A Slimy Stickup

Fixing up a human body after surgery is a bit like a delicate craft project, with surgeons using stitches or staples to patch up patients. But these methods can damage delicate tissues, and there’s always a risk of air or fluid leaking through the seams. Another approach is to use medical-grade Superglue, but it only works on dry skin and is only suitable for surface wounds. Scientists have now turned to slimy slugs in search of new glues for sealing internal wounds. Slug slime contains unusually sticky molecules that stay stuck even under water. Using similar molecules produced by algae, researchers have developed glue patches that can seal wounds in the hearts and livers of living animals and stick to bloody, wet skin. Although there’s more work to be done to perfect the slime-based sealant, it could one day be used to stick human hearts and other organs back together.

Written by Kat Arney

Kat Arney

Writer

Dr Kat Arney is an award-winning science writer, broadcaster and public speaker, and is the founder and Creative Director of First Create The Media.

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• Image by Jianyu Li, Adam D. Celiz, and David J. Mooney
• John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
• Image copyright held by the original authors
• Research published in Science, July 2017