Page 40 - Biomimetics: Technology Imitates Nature

Biomimetics: Technology Imitates Nature

This example alone is enough to demonstrate the great wisdom of God, the Creator all
things in nature: Spiders produce a thread five times stronger than steel. Kevlar, the
product of our most advanced technology, is made at high temperatures, using petro-
leum-derived materials and sulfuric acid. The energy this process requires is very high,
and its byproducts are exceedingly toxic. Yet from the point of view of strength, Kevlar
is much weaker than spider silk. (“Biomimicry,” Your Planet Earth; http://www.your-
planetearth.org/terms/details.php3?term=Biomimicry)

inside the spider—if protein folding can be made flawless and the weav-
ing material's genetic information added, then it will be possible to in-
dustrially produce silk-based threads with a great many special proper-
ties. It is therefore thought that if the spider thread weaving process can
be understood, the level of success in the manufacture of man-made ma-
terials will be improved.
This thread, which scientists are only now joining forces to investi-
gate, has been produced flawlessly by spiders for at least 380 million
years. 37 This, no doubt, is one of the proofs of God’s perfect creation.
Neither is there any doubt that all of these extraordinary phenomena are
under His control, taking place by His will. As one verse states, “There is
no creature He does not hold by the forelock” (Qur’an, 11: 56).

38