Image of the Day: Sticky Situation

Inspired by the land slug Arion subfuscus’s sticky, durable slime, researchers created a tough yet bendy biocompatible glue that can adhere to moist surfaces, including a beating pig heart.


Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
1:00
Share

The adhesive material sticking to a beating pig heartLI ET AL., SCIENCE, 357:378-81, 2017. The land slug Arion subfuscus can fasten itself to moist surfaces using its exceptionally sticky mucous. In need of a non-toxic, flexible material that can adhere to wet surfaces, researchers turned to slug slime for inspiration and created a biocompatible glue that can stick to bloody, beating organs.

See J. Li et al., “Tough adhesives for diverse wet surfaces,” Science, 357:378-81, 2017.

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here
A greyscale image of cells dividing.
March 2025, Issue 1

How Do Embryos Know How Fast to Develop

In mammals, intracellular clocks begin to tick within days of fertilization.

View this Issue
Discover the history, mechanics, and potential of PCR.

Become a PCR Pro

Integra Logo
3D rendered cross section of influenza viruses, showing surface proteins on the outside and single stranded RNA inside the virus

Genetic Insights Break Infectious Pathogen Barriers

Thermo Fisher Logo
A photo of sample storage boxes in an ultra-low temperature freezer.

Navigating Cold Storage Solutions

PHCbi logo 
The Immunology of the Brain

The Immunology of the Brain

Products

Sapio Sciences

Sapio Sciences Makes AI-Native Drug Discovery Seamless with NVIDIA BioNeMo

DeNovix Logo

New DeNovix Helium Nano Volume Spectrophotometer

Olink Logo

Olink® Reveal: Accessible NGS-based proteomics for every lab

Olink logo
Zymo Logo

Zymo Research Launches the Quick-16S™ Full-Length Library Prep Kit