Morgellons Mystery Fibers Are Human Silk - I think.

Cytoskeleton - The Fibers' Properties Occur Commonly

The thin filaments, also referred to as fibers, strings, and tubes, get their characteristics from the structure of the underlying proteins and other molecules. Fueling much of the debate were the purported properties: extreme heat resistance (confirmed during an attempted chromatography), high tensile strength, elasticity, independent motility both within and outside of the skin, rapid expansion or contraction, and possible electrical or magnetic properties (generally poorly described).  

Several MD sufferers claimed proof of a parasite with insects seen entangled in fibers. (The belief was held in good faith, but they were mistaken.) Adding to the mystery was ABC's Nightline program on Morgellons Disease which featured a law enforcement officer who was unable to match the fiber to any known fiber in a presumably expansive database run by the FBI.  Upon microscopic examination, no cell wall was observed leading many scientists to assume it was inorganic.  (They too were mistaken).

Doctors agreed that the absence of a cell wall indicated the fibers'  inorganic composition and concluded that they had to be synthetic fibers.  The unique properties perhaps suggested some human manipulation - a designed or altered synthetic fiber?  It didn't matter because since the fibers were assumed to be synthetic, infection was ruled out. The theory now was that patient must have planted the fibers to trick the physician.  

That reasoning implicitly endorsed the stereotype that persons with a mental illness are incompetent or dishonest reporters of their own experiences.  A difficult position became an impossible one. In addition to the belief that MD sufferers were delusional, now they were also manipulative tricksters.  Support for recognition of MD as something other than an imagined condition would imply a clinician's gullibility and hurt professional respect, standing, and/or opportunities.  It could mean loss of business or hospital privileges.  

The public ate it up, fascinated at the idea of such a twisted and obsessed mind.  Somehow people felt justified in their cruelty.  Psychiatrists didn't seem bothered by the fact that a person holding a sincere belief would not usually then falsify evidence and persist at great lengths to persuade the physician.  Collecting samples for clinical or laboratory examination merely cemented the suspicion that MD patients were trying to manipulate their doctors.  No one seemed to notice the shift in diagnosis from mass delusion (used in an attempt to explain the widespread reports) to mass participation in an Internet-based hoax.  Mass delusion described a delusional or psychotic disorder.  The new intentional deceit theory described a personality disorder.

The explanatory gap (gulf) is bridged by the fiber forming proteins that animals produce which are capable of biopolymerization, a process producing specific structure sets out of amino acids. Like their synthetic polymer counterparts, biopolymers exhibit exceptional qualities, depending on the structure.  The structure is dictated by their chemical composition and environmental factors.  

Naturally occurring biopolymers are observed as adhesives (adhering connective tissue to bone with gelatin or collagen), shields (silk cocoon), elastic gel compounds (viscoelastic hagfish threads), insect attractants and snares (spider silks).  In the cytoplasmic skeleton alone, humans produce dozens of proteins (proteins are made out of amino acids). Many have potential to biopolymerize and do so regularly.  We're only beginning to discover the myriad ways in which the body regulates and exploits this.  

While visibly expressing through the epidermis, it is the cytoskeletal matrix which appears to be the most affected by Morgellons Disease.  The matrix consists of actin, microtubules, and intermediate filaments (IF).  The actin layer assists in signal transduction and together with myosins, transports organelles and other substances through cell membranes.  (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/479680/protein/72523/Physicochemical-properties-of-the-amino-acids). 
 

Actin is critical in determining a cell's final shape and is what moves cells to the surface of the skin in a growth process called "treadmilling".  (http://www.mechanobio.info/modules/go-0030041). Actin's properties are numerous and special, but discussion of every MD implicated property would take too long. I would encourage readers to investigate further.  (http://www.bms.ed.ac.uk/research/others/smaciver/Cyto-Topics/actinpage.htm).