Silk has been used for centuries in medicine as sutures. The unique mechanical and chemical properties of this material and the ability to genetically tailor the protein have meant that silk is now being used increasingly for biomaterials and tissue engineering applications. This book discusses the applications of silk for medical purposes with the first set of chapters covering the fundamentals and properties of silk for biomedical applications. Contributions in the second set of chapters look at a wide range of medical applications including tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, drug delivery and pharmaceutical applications.
