Decadent Delight

A new type of glue developed by researchers from MIT and Germany combines sticky polymers inspired by mussels with the germ-fighting properties of another natural material: mucus.

To secure themselves to rocks or ships, mussels secrete a fluid rich in proteins connected by chemical cross-links. Interestingly, similar cross-linking features are found in mucin—a large protein that, along with water, is the primary component of mucus. George Degen, a postdoc in MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and a coauthor of a paper on this research, explored whether mussel-inspired polymers could interact with the chemical groups in mucin.

To investigate this, he combined solutions of natural mucin proteins with synthetic mussel-inspired polymers and examined how the resulting mixture solidified and adhered to surfaces over time.

“It’s like a two-part epoxy. You mix two liquids together, and chemistry starts to occur, allowing the liquid to solidify while it simultaneously adheres to the surface,” says Degen.

The resulting gel strongly sticks even to wet surfaces while preventing the buildup of bacteria. The researchers envision that it could be injected or sprayed as a liquid, which would quickly turn into a sticky gel. The material might coat medical implants, for instance, to help prevent infection. This approach could also be adapted to include other natural materials such as keratin, which might be useful in developing sustainable packaging solutions.