Innovation:
Life-saving surgical superglue Nature’s Solution:
Slug slime Problem Solved:
Revolutionizing the way surgical wounds are closed Market Readiness:
Lab
Biologists have shown that the red triangle slug (Triboniophorus graeffei) produces a special kind of mucus when threatened. Unlike the thin, slippery slime it secretes as it moves, the special defensive mucus is extremely
Surgical Superglue: Slugs rank low for many of us, but they are a potential godsend for surgical teams and are the inspiration behind a new biomedical adhesive that could possibly save your life.
sticky – strong enough to glue down predators for days. How does the slug avoid getting stuck down by its own glue? No one knows, not only for this species, but all other species which produce adhesives for
Some organs in our bodies, like hearts and lungs, are a challenge to repair (ie delicately patching a hole in a beating heart or repairing cartilage) because they are wet, and moving. Typical surgical adhesives and tapes are not sticky or flexible enough to work on the wet tissue.
Now engineers are looking to mimic slug mucus because it has the sticking power of superglue, it’s highly stretchable, biocompatible (our bodies don’t reject it), stretchy as a rubber band and so sticky it can reconnect wet pieces of heart or lungs back together. Plus it’s made without toxic, harsh chemicals, and eventually it’s possible this “glue” could disintegrate safely back into the body.
defence or predation. www.newscientist.com
The Future of Innovation is Here: 8 Inventions from Nature’s Laboratory, by author Katie Losey, originally posted on 10 September 2019. URL found at: https://biomimicry.org/ the-future-of-innovation-is-here-8-inventions-from-natures-laborator
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