Silk fibroin, derived from Bombyx mori cocoons, is a widely used and studied protein polymer for biomaterial applications.
Silk fibroin has remarkable mechanical properties when formed into different materials, demonstrates biocompatibility, has
controllable degradation rates from hours to years and can be chemically modified to alter surface properties or to immobilize
growth factors. A variety of aqueous or organic solvent-processing methods can be used to generate silk biomaterials for a range
of applications. In this protocol, we include methods to extract silk from B. mori cocoons to fabricate hydrogels, tubes, sponges,
composites, fibers, microspheres and thin films. These materials can be used directly as biomaterials for implants, as scaffolding
in tissue engineering and in vitro disease models, as well as for drug delivery