Scientists at Brown and Indiana University-Bloomington have received a $1.2-million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the properties of a natural "super glue" they discovered in secretions of the Caulobacter crescentus bacterium.
Assistant Professor of Physics Jay Tang and Indiana microbiologist Yves Brun, along with other scientists, discovered the adhesive substance last spring, according to an Indiana University press release.
The researchers found that the substance could withstand a force of up to 70 newtons per square millimeter, or five tons per square inch. In contrast, commercial superglue can withstand a force of only 28 newtons per square millimeter, according to a United Press International article. Tang and Brun found it was the strongest natural glue ever discovered.
The natural "super glue" could potentially be used as a biodegradable surgical adhesive, but Brun told UPI that it could be challenging to prevent the glue from sticking to everything used to produce it.
Brun said scientists were able to isolate the glue on a glass surface.
"We tried washing the glue off," he told UPI. "It didn't work."
- Debbie Lehmann
