Spinning silk into sutures: Toward a history of biological materiality

The working group Proteins and Fibers at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science delves into how techniques and methods of using animal materials has developed in history across various locations and moments in time. The history of surgical silk sutures in Japan points to a fresh approach toward the history of animals. By focusing on proteinaceous fibers as the stuff of life subject to scientific analysis, a history of biological materiality begins to take shape.