The Oxford Silk Group at the Oxford University's Department of Zoology has developed a new method for easily unreeling silkworm cocoons. The group led by Prof. Fritz Vollrath specialises in silk research to learn how silk is spun from a liquid into a solid fibre, why silks from different species are different, and the relation between the protein folding and their mechanical strength. Silk is made by unreeling of the fine, soft thread from cocoons of silk moths. According to the team, this practice began around 3500 BC in China. Today, most silk comes from cocoons of the domesticated Mulberry silkworm (bred from a species native to Asia) because they are easy to unreel into long strands. The cocoons formed by "wild" species are too tough for this process.
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机译：牛津大学动物学系的牛津丝绸集团已经开发出一种轻松解开蚕茧的新方法。 Fritz Vollrath教授领导的小组专门研究丝绸，研究如何将丝绸从液体纺成固体纤维，为什么不同物种的丝绸不同，以及蛋白质折叠与其机械强度之间的关系。蚕丝是通过从蚕茧中解开细而柔软的线而制成的。根据研究小组的说法，这种习俗始于公元前3500年左右。如今，大多数蚕丝都来自驯养的桑蚕（来自亚洲本地物种）的茧，因为它们很容易解开长链。由“野生”物种形成的茧对于该过程而言太强硬。
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