Regenerated Keratin Fibres

Abstract

IN the past few years considerable progress has been made in the regeneration of certain protein fibres from solution ; in particular, casein¹ and peanut globulin² have been spun with considerable success. Hewitt and Coleman³ have dissolved and respun silk, Lundgren⁴ and his co-workers have made fibres from dissolved chicken feathers, and one of us (R. L. W.) has described the regeneration of a protein from a mixture of casein and soluble keratin⁵. In the following, a short description is given of the regeneration of wool keratin fibres from solution. This material was made by the method previously de scribed by Wormell⁵, and its X-ray photograph is reproduced herewith. It can be seen from this diagram that the keratin molecule is in the β or fully extended form, and there is no evidence of the presence of the typical α-fold of the original wool molecule.