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Optimizing the Strength of Multi-Fluorescent Silk to Monitor Post-Operative Recovery

CSEF · 2026 Biochemistry/ Molecular Biology (Senior Division)

Kailey Lin

Overview

The precise and effective evaluation of surgical recovery presents significant challenges in the medical field, and current methods for evaluating recovery can be invasive, subjective, and expensive. Fluorescent silk, produced by an altered silkworm diet, has been proposed to have biomedical applications due to its desirable properties. In this study, silkworms were fed a diet supplemented with fluorescent dyes such as Rhodamine B and Rhodamine 110, or metal additives such as Copper for approximately 5-14 days. The cocoons from these silkworms were then analyzed to determine whether it is possible for silk fibers to contain a combination of different fluorescent properties. Then, the silk threads were immersed in synthetic blood to determine how body-like fluids may impact the fluorescent properties. Results show silkworms can produce multi-fluorescent silk that is similar in size and 70% the breaking load of commercially available surgical sutures (420-480g breaking force), the green fluorophores showed around 50% reduction in fluorescence intensity after one week immersion in synthetic blood while the red fluorophores remained persistent. Additionally, the concentration of chemicals the silkworms were fed affected their growth rate. The silk produced through the methods described in this study is comparable to that of synthetic sutures in size and function with the additional property of being multi-fluorescent. The differential degradation rates observed in a simulated physiological environment demonstrate the feasibility of using multi-fluorescent silk as a sensor for blood exposure. This suggests a potential clinical application where fluorescence loss may be correlated, following in vivo validation, with perfusion-dependent wound healing.

Competition history

  • CSEF 2026 Biochemistry/ Molecular Biology (Senior Division) · Entry S-04-39

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