Bombyx mori 300 to about 900 m (1,000 to 3,000 ft) long. The fibers are very fine and lustrous, about 10 μm (0.0004 in) in diameter. About 2,000 to 3,000 cocoons are required to make a pound of silk (0.4 kg). At least 70 million pounds of raw silk are produced each year, requiring nearly 10 billion cocoons. Due to its small size and ease of culture, the silkworm has become a model organism in the study of lepidopteran and arthropod biology. Fundamental findings on pheromones, hormones, brain structures, and physiology have been made with the silkworm. One example of this was
Akira Mori Akira Mori He attended Keio University, graduating in 1960 and joining Yasuda Trust & Banking (now part of Mizuho Trust & Banking). He formally joined Mori Building as an employee in 1972. Following their father's death in 1993, he and his older brother Minoru Mori inherited the family business and in 1999 they split it after a falling-out. Akira headed Mori Trust, while his brother headed what was left of the Mori Building company until his death on March 8, 2012. Mori Trust owns and operates 67 buildings, manages 89 buildings, consisting of office and residential buildings, mainly in central