一种由蜘蛛丝和树木制成的新材料可以取代塑料

一种由蜘蛛丝和树木制成的新材料可以取代塑料

From raindrops in the Rockies to the very food on our plates, we've woven a tangled web for ourselves out of plastic.

从落基山脉的雨滴到我们盘子里的食物，我们用塑料为自己编织了一张错综复杂的网。

The future may no longer be in plastic, but rather a combination of spider silk and tree pulp. (Photo: Amy Johansson/Shutterstock)

It's strong and flexible and cheap. It's also a choking hazard for the planet.

它坚固、灵活、便宜。这对地球来说也是一个窒息的危险。

But new research from Aalto University and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland suggests there may be a way to unravel this mess — with a little help from spiders, and our go-to environmental heroes, trees.

但是来自阿尔托大学和芬兰VTT技术研究中心的一项新研究表明，也许有一种方法可以解决这个问题——借助蜘蛛和我们的环保英雄——树木的一点帮助。

In a paper published this month in Science Advances, the scientists claim to have developed a new material by sticking cellulose fibers from wood to the silk protein found in spider webs. The result? A strong, flexible material that could do everything plastic does better — except, of course, clog up the planet.

在本月发表在《科学进展》(Science Advances)杂志上的一篇论文中，科学家们声称，他们已经开发出一种新材料，方法是将木材中的纤维素纤维粘在蛛网中的丝蛋白上。结果呢?一种坚固、灵活的材料可以做任何塑料制品，当然，除了堵塞地球。

The biomaterial is so effective, researchers are hailing it as a possible replacement for plastic in everything from the medical and textile industries to packaging.

这种生物材料非常有效，研究人员将其誉为从医疗、纺织到包装等各个领域的塑料替代品。

"We used birch tree pulp, broke it down to cellulose nanofibrils and aligned them into a stiff scaffold. At the same time, we infiltrated the cellulosic network with a soft and energy dissipating spider silk adhesive matrix," Pezhman Mohammadi from VTT notes in a press release.

“我们用桦树的纸浆，把它分解成纤维素纳米纤维，排列成一个坚硬的支架。与此同时，我们用一种柔软且耗能的蛛丝粘合基质渗透到纤维素网络中，”VTT公司的Pezhman Mohammadi在一份新闻稿中写道。

In other words, they dug into nature's cookbook to combine just the right ingredients to create a material that does all things plastic — but, since it's entirely biodegradable, it goes back to nature when its job is done.

换句话说，他们深入研究了自然的食谱，将正确的原料组合在一起，创造出一种可以做所有塑料事情的材料——但是，由于它是完全可生物降解的，所以当它的工作完成时，它就会回归自然。

Now, the trick may be to scale up the stuff to the levels of plastic. How many hard-working spiders would we need to scale up production to rival that of plastic? How about none at all?

现在，诀窍可能是将这种物质放大到塑料的水平。我们需要多少辛勤工作的蜘蛛才能扩大生产，与塑料蜘蛛相抗衡?什么都没有怎么样?

For their research, the Finnish scientists didn't use a single thread of spider silk, but rather produced webbing from bacteria with synthetic DNA.

在他们的研究中，芬兰科学家没有使用一根单一的蛛丝，而是用合成DNA的细菌制造了蛛网。

"Because we know the structure of the DNA, we can copy it and use this to manufacture silk protein molecules which are chemically similar to those found in spider web threads," lead researcher Markus Linder of Aalto University explains in the release. "The DNA has all this information contained in it."

“因为我们知道DNA的结构，我们可以复制它，并利用它来制造蛛丝蛋白分子，这些蛋白分子的化学结构与蜘蛛网上发现的类似，”阿尔托大学的首席研究员马库斯·林德在新闻稿中解释道。“DNA包含了所有这些信息。”

In addition to its stickiness, spider silk must be strong and stretchy to endure the struggles of captured insects. (Photo: Nechaevkon/Shutterstock)

Still, let's face it. Plastic isn't going to break a sweat just yet.

不过，让我们面对现实吧。塑料还不会让你汗流浃背。

Since the 1950s, when polymers really started to gain traction among consumers, annual production has increased by 200 times. In 2015 alone, we churned out more than 380 million tons of it.

自上世纪50年代以来，聚合物真正开始受到消费者的青睐，年产量增长了200倍。仅2015年，我们就生产了3.8亿吨。

But new biomaterials like this hybrid of spider silk and tree pulp, as well as more concerted international efforts to curtail single-use plastics may poke enough holes in its wrapper to let us breathe a little easier.

但是，新的生物材料，像这种蜘蛛丝和树浆的混合物，以及国际上更协调一致的努力来减少一次性使用塑料，可能会在它的包装上戳出足够的洞，让我们更容易呼吸。

Or perhaps, at least, we might get a much-needed third option at the grocery store: Paper, plastic … or spiderweb?

或者，至少，我们可能在杂货店得到一个急需的第三种选择:纸、塑料……还是蜘蛛网?