Bombyx mori to produce proteins, including pharmacological drugs, in the place of silk proteins. "Bombyx mori" females are also one of the few organisms with homologous chromosomes held together only by the synaptonemal complex (and not crossovers) during meiosis. Kraig Biocraft Laboratories has used research from the Universities of Wyoming and Notre Dame in a collaborative effort to create a silkworm that is genetically altered to produce spider silk. In September 2010, the effort was announced as successful. Researchers at Tufts developed scaffolds made of spongy silk that feel and look similar to human tissue. They are implanted during reconstructive surgery to
Bombyx mandarina Bombyx mandarina Bombyx mandarina, the wild silkmoth, is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of "Bombyx mori" the domesticated silkmoth or "silkworm" (properly, this refers to the caterpillars only). Unlike the domesticated relative which is unable to fly or indeed persist outside human care, the wild silkmoth is a fairly ordinary lepidopteran. Its main difference from the domesticated taxon is the more slender body with well-developed wings in males, and the dull greyish-brown colour. "Bombyx mandarina" and the domesticated "Bombyx mori" constitute two of the currently identified eight species of the genus "Bombyx", the