Mussels secrete a powerful adhesive to hold tight on rocks swept by violent waves — and a synthetic version could prove critical for surgery and cancer treatment, researchers said.
Scientists have created materials that mimic the mussels’ sticky proteins and could have medical applications such as sealants for fetal membrane repair, self-setting antibacterial hydrogels and polymers for to deliver cancer drugs and destroy cancer cells.
“An inland stream with water moving at only one meter (yard) per second is very hard to stand in,” said University of Washington, Seattle biologist Emily Carrington, who studies the tiny mollusks. “Imagine something going 10 times that speed — over your whole body.”
That’s what mussels withstand — and more — as they cling to rocks, grasses and other materials under water. Carrington said water travelling 10 meters per second would be equivalent to winds blowing 600 miles (965 kilometres) per hour.
“A couple of them clinging to a rock can support the weight of a fully grown person” said Herbert Waite, a molecular biologist from the University of California.
They spoke on the sidelines of the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Boston.