 Fundamental findings on pheromones, hormones, brain structures, and physiology have been made with the silkworm.One example of this was the molecular identification of the first known pheromone, bombykol, which required extracts from 500,000 individuals, due to the very small quantities of pheromone produced by any individual silkworm.Currently, research is focusing on the genetics of silkworms and the possibility of genetic engineering.