8. Keratin-Based Biotechnological Applications

The present chapter is aimed towards giving an overview of the applications of keratin as a potential biomaterial substitute in the field of biotechnology. Keratin is a fibrous protein and considered as biomaterial due to its biocompatible and biodegradable characteristics. Its use as biopolymer has been the subject of intense investigation over the past few years. Wool, feather, horn and hooves, etc., are strong in terms of mechanical strength due to the presence of keratin. But once keratin is extracted from natural sources then, it becomes poor in mechanical properties. So, the blending of keratin with other biopolymer can improve the material properties like strength, flexibility, and water vapor permeability. The malleable nature of keratin proves its biotechnological applications such as tissue engineering scaffold, green composites, green cement, bioplastic, etc. The functional groups and chemical structures of keratin govern its properties and morphology, which gives an opportunity to control the design of desired molecular structure for various applications, and varies from industrial to the biotechnological field. Recently, the biodegradable keratin-based biopolymers have gained considerable importance in the medical field as they avoid additional surgery to remove the implants and lack of medical waste burden. Thus, much attention needs to be undertaken on the development of composite biomaterial derived from keratin.