Spider Silk's Molecular Trigger: How Arginine–Tyrosine Cation–π Interactions Drive Phase Separation and β-Sheet Assembly in Native Dragline Silk

A bilingual (English/Russian) science communication article explaining the groundbreaking discovery of the molecular trigger behind spider silk formation. Scientists at San Diego State University and King's College London found that arginine–tyrosine cation–π interactions drive the phase separation and β-sheet assembly that converts liquid silk protein (spidroin) into solid dragline thread — a fiber five times stronger than steel by weight. This accessible summary covers the mechanism, implications for synthetic silk manufacturing, and potential applications in medicine and engineering. Originally published at https://sigmatic.science/en/spider-silk-trigger-2026/