Animals that were once used for bait or that were considered worthless (hagfish, sea cucumber) were later taken in large quantities for human consumption.
"We know very little about hagfish reproduction, and no-one has ever gotten hagfish to breed in captivity - amazing as that sounds, " says Douglas Fudge, who heads the Guelph research project.
Hagfish slime has many similar qualities to spider silk, but has one big advantage, says Fudge - the proteins that make it up are far smaller, and so easier - in theory - to replicate.