Each time a different natural dye is added to the fabric for a Good Earth pillow or quilt, it's rinsed, then laid to dry in the sun. Courtesy of Good Earth hide caption

Using a simple wooden handloom, weavers create silk strips that diabetics can use as glucose sensors. This loom is at Achira Labs in Bangalore, India. Courtesy of Tripurari Choudhary hide caption

Soft to the touch, silk may also help preserve vaccines and drugs someday. Fiorenzo Omenetto/Tufts University hide caption