Professor Benedetto Marelli reported a study in which he and coworkers added a thin silk coating onto strawberries, resulting in increased fruit firmness and preventing fruit decay. The 27-35 microns-thick coating is thin, odorless, and does not affect fruit texture. The research, reported by Tufts last Friday, was picked up by many major news outlets. Since his arrival at MIT, Professor Marelli has continued and expanded his research in this area and included CEE students in the experimentation.