Editing Fiber (section)

== Natural fibers ==
{{Main|Natural fiber}}
[[File:PhilFIDA natural fibersA.jpg|thumb|Various natural fibers from plants found in the Philippines. Labels show the plant names]]
{{Fibre sidebar}}
Natural fibers develop or occur in the fiber shape, and include those produced by plants, animals, and geological processes.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=Textiles |last=Kadolph |first=Sara |publisher=[[Prentice Hall]] |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-13-025443-6}}</ref> They can be classified according to their origin:
*[[fiber crop|Vegetable fiber]]s are generally based on arrangements of [[cellulose]], often with [[lignin]]: examples include [[cotton]], [[Cannabis sativa|hemp]], [[jute]], [[flax]], [[abaca]], [[piña]], [[ramie]], [[sisal]], [[bagasse]], and [[Banana#Fiber|banana]]. Plant fibers are employed in the manufacture of [[paper]] and [[textile]] (cloth), and [[dietary fiber]] is an important component of human nutrition.
*[[Wood fibre|Wood fiber]], distinguished from vegetable fiber, is from tree sources. Forms include groundwood, [[Lagetta lagetto|lacebark]], thermomechanical pulp (TMP), and bleached or unbleached [[Kraft process|kraft]] or sulfite pulps. Kraft and sulfite refer to the type of pulping process used to remove the lignin bonding the original wood structure, thus freeing the fibers for use in paper and [[engineered wood]] products such as [[fiberboard]].
*[[Animal fiber]]s consist largely of particular proteins. Instances are [[silkworm]] [[silk]], [[spider silk]], [[sinew]], [[catgut]], [[wool]], [[sea silk]] and hair such as [[cashmere wool]], [[mohair]] and [[Angora wool|angora]], fur such as sheepskin, rabbit, mink, fox, beaver, etc.
*[[Mineral fiber]]s include the [[asbestos]] group. Asbestos is the only naturally occurring long [[mineral]] fiber. Six minerals have been classified as "asbestos" including [[chrysotile]] of the [[Serpentine group|serpentine]] class and those belonging to the [[amphibole]] class: [[amosite]], [[crocidolite]], [[tremolite]], [[anthophyllite]] and [[actinolite]]. Short, fiber-like minerals include [[wollastonite]] and [[palygorskite]].
*Biological fibers, also known as [[fibrous proteins]] or [[protein filament]]s, consist largely of biologically relevant and biologically very important proteins, in which mutations or other genetic defects can lead to [[Collagen#Diseases|severe diseases]]. Instances include the [[collagen]]<ref name="Saad 1994">{{cite thesis |last1=Saad |first1=Mohamed |title=Low resolution structure and packing investigations of collagen crystalline domains in tendon using Synchrotron Radiation X-rays, Structure factors determination, evaluation of Isomorphous Replacement methods and other modeling |date=October 1994 |degree=PhD |publisher=Université Joseph Fourier Grenoble I |pages=1–221 |url=https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3L_EN9hIuFTTkhuN2lrWEU4RDQ&authuser=0 |doi=10.13140/2.1.4776.7844}}</ref> family of proteins, [[tendons]], [[muscle proteins]] like [[actin]], cell proteins like [[microtubule]]s{{citation needed|date=March 2021}} and many others, such as [[spider silk]], [[sinew]], and [[hair]].