Silk Cocoons

One of natures little Miracles, this has become a whole lot cheaper as sericulture has become a whole lot more efficient. Setting strength against weight, silk is one of the strongest of any materials apart from spider silk. Considering its origins, it is also one of the most improbable and fascinating. It is still procured by unwinding individual silk cocoons and spinning these into a thread capable of weaving into cloth.

(Note: to improve the strength of silk, spider genes have been introduced into silkworms with promising results. A similar experiment – a goat crossed with a spider – has led to spider silk protein expressed in milk and extracted as an extruded material!)