One of the most common fears could become our greatest solution, as researchers dig deeper into the powers of spider silk that could save lives, giving a sense of reality to the SpiderMan character we never saw coming. 

The strength and capability of spider silk has intrigued scientists for centuries as it outperforms both the strength of steel and elasticity of rubber all at once. 

A new global study is seeing scientists from around the world collaborate in finding and studying almost 1100 spiders in an effort to find the common denominator in a spider’s genetics that make such a powerful material.

If successful, the research has enormous potential. 

The incredibly versatile material could transform medicine, engineering and materials science; if only we could work out how to produce it. 

Contributing scientist Dr Sean Blamires said that by combining so many spiders in the research, it becomes clearer to identify any link between genes, protein structures and fibres. 

“Spider silk is basically made up of proteins called spidroins. We know spiders secrete it from a gland, but how this contributes to its toughness and flexibility, and even the way it is stored in the gland before being secreted, is still somewhat of a mystery. If we want to produce it, we need to understand it,” Dr Blamires said. 

“And even then, understanding how the spider does it is one step, the next is replicating something similar, possibly using microfluidic technology in a lab,” he said. 

Suggested uses of the material include a lightweight material to use in bulletproof vests, a flexible building material, or biodegradable bottles.

In health, it could be used for a non-toxic biomaterial in regenerative medicine that can be used as a kind of scaffold to grow and repair damaged nerves or tissues. 

A team of researchers spanning Asia, Oceania, Europe and the US have spent five years collecting and observing spiders and extracting silk to help the study. 

While years ago the existing dataset to refer to was made up of 52 species of spiders in 18 families, 1098 new species from 76 families have been added to the research. 

“By combining so many species and so many individual samples, it becomes possible to perform some complex models using machine learning to help understand what's happening at every level. Also, how and why you get specific properties for some silks which not only vary greatly between species, but can even vary between individuals,” Dr Blamires said.  

While progress has been made in the space, it seems we’re still a while away from finding the answers and using them for good.

Until then, we’ll have to look to the superhero for a glimpse of what could be.