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Engineers turn the body's goo into new glue
MIT engineers developed an adhesive derived from mucus and the glue produced by mussels. The material presents the buildup of bacteria while keeping its sticky hold, even on wet surfaces, and could be useful in biomedical applications.
Now engineers from MIT and Freie Universität Berlin have developed a new type of glue that combines the waterproof stickiness of the mussels’ plaques with the germ-proof properties of another natural material: mucus. The team’s new glue-making approach could also be adjusted to incorporate other natural materials, such as keratin — a fibrous substance found in feathers and hair, with certain chemical features resembling those of mucus. “We are excited to have established a biomaterials design platform that gives us these desirable properties of gelation and adhesion, and as a starting point we’ve demonstrated some key biomedical applications,” Degen says.
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