Biomaterial experts at Germanys Bayreuth and Würzburg universities claimed a breakthrough in cultivating living cells while holding them in place with liquified spider silk. The research method mixed spider silk with connective fibroblast cells from mice to generate a so-called bio ink or gel. Fibroblasts typically begin wound repairs. When extruded from a 3-D printer, the silk molecules quickly wrapped those cells, giving them a porous matrix in which to flourish, the team said.