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Chemists Crack Secrets of Mussels' Super Glue
Roland Piquepaille writes "Researchers from Purdue University working under an award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) have discovered that common blue mussels are using iron found in seawater to create their own super glue. "In addition to using the knowledge to develop safer alternatives for surgical and household glues, the researchers are looking at how to combat the glue to prevent damage to shipping vessels and the accidental transport of invasive species, such as the zebra mussel that has ravaged the midwestern United States." This overview contains more details and references about this discovery. You'll also find an image of mussel glue at a magnification of 25,000X and one of a mussel adhering to a sheet of Teflon."
Next time they try cleaning those mussels off a large ship, the ship desintegrates too. Same glue, sorry...
To Terminate, or not to Terminate, that's the question - SCSIROB
Get these things off of me!
"I only speak the truth"
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Superglue or not, here in Belgium and The Netherlands millions of mussels are eaten every year ;-)
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i wouldent want to get my hand stuck with that, anywhere, never mind there....
Lotas T Smartman www.lotas-smartman.net
What sticks to Teflon?
Mussels!
Bah, there was a punchline in there somewhere, but I think I missed it.
Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.
So, the next time a lamp breaks or something, I'll just go fetch a mussel and fix it with that. Cheap and easy! Just don't tell PETA.
The Blaster Master Fighting for Truth, Justice, and Evil Pie since 1979
Since when was Teflon that leader of anti-stick materials? Put them on some salt, then we'll see who is better!
Blogzine
Will Muscle Glue remover cause the iron to oxidize and rust away thereby breaking apart the protein strands? Inquiring minds want to know.
Good security is based upon reality and common sense. Common sense is a function of having common knowledge.
That's my dinner!
From excellent karma to terible karma with a single +5 funny post...
"Stick to your ribs" suddenly has a whole new meaning...
People say I'm crazy, I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes...
If you reduce the water amount in saliva of the mongolian veld goat then you get stuff with nearly the same properties. The goats need this to be able to eat the cacti in the desert.
However this is known to some time now and nobody seems to care or even to use it.
Owner of a Mensa membership card.
This area of research is similar to what I did as a chemistry post graduate.
h tm
s ives.htm
After a bit of googling, I found the researcher's home page:
http://www.chem.purdue.edu/Faculty/wilker.
I also found the page for his research group. Linked from it, was a more detailed description of the chemistry involved:
http://www.chem.purdue.edu/wilker/adhe
Unfortunately, while I could find a number of links to actual publications in peer-reviewed chemistry journals, all where subscription sites.
Is this compound superior to our own super glue?
Will it set as fast? One of the advantages of traditional super glue is that it uses minute amounts of water on each surface to cause it to set.
Or is this academic only and no one is suggesting we work on replacing our current solution.
In short: What is the significants of this find, out side of academia?
clifgriffin > blog
When you say "super glue", most people here think of Superglue(tm), which is cyanoacrylate adhesive, not mollusk snot. Couldn't a different phrasing have been used?
Cretin - a powerful and flexible CD reencoder
You'll be able to store your palm, iPod, and trapper keeper on the barnacles on your ass. Look ma, no hands!
I guess because "mussel glues present the first identified case in which transition metals are essential to the formation of a non crystalline biological material" it is interesting science... but why whoud we care?...
I hate these press releases that don't give any specifics (e.g., strength in MPa) nor do they provide larger picture of why would we care...
oh, well, good for mussels any way... they are tasty...
Just because I don't care, it doesn't mean I don't understand. Homer J. Simpson
You know, with this development, and all the recent talk about gecko super-tape being developed... it makes me feel a little uncomfortable. We're developing products that make structures, installations etc. more and more permanent.
We all talk about expanding recycling programs, and cutting down on fossil fuels, but then build structures that have such highly developed components, they can never be re-used or perhaps even dismantled (without disintegration, probably releasing even more agents into the biosphere).
Now don't get me wrong, with the right regulation and foresight, these kind of developments can be true breakthroughs. But forging ahead without considering whether an invention can be dismantled or reduced to its original components is not good engineering these days.
But hell, my field is ancient history, what do I know...
Isn't this a violation of nature's rights? Greenpeace should sue them based on DMCA!
This was discovered by Sander Haemes 3 years ago.
Maybe the next time George W. Bush has a public speaking arrangement we should throw mussels at him
actually, research has been conducted on mussels like these for at least the past 15 years. scientists were having horrible trouble producing this adhesive on their own, and could only get something remotely close by crushing thousands of mussels and extracting the adhesive from them, and still the glue would wear off sooner than expected.
the discovery that iron contributes to the chemical structure will perhaps expedite the process of simulation and production, but there's still a long way to go. as technologically advanced as we are, we know hardly anything about how to build things on a molecular level, and even if we finally observe the chemical makeup of this glue, i believe production technology will be holding back synthesis.
More information about the zebra mussel can be found here:
The Zebra Mussel Page
The slide show link is informative. To quote: "Zebra mussels are a pest organism because they not only attach to one another, but also to man-made objects, including water intakes and other plumbing of water, power, and other companies that use fresh water. [snip] Zebra mussels also attach to other organisms, such as these native (North American) mussels from Lake Erie. Heavy loads of zebra mussels have killed essentially all native Unionid mussels in western Lake Erie, an early site of the zebra mussel invasion. Zebra mussels first appeared in Lake St. Clair (yellow star, north of Lake Erie), possibly from ship's ballast water from the Black Sea region. They rapidly spread downstream with the current, and upstream and to other watersheds on boats, with bait, and by other man-mediated mechanisms."
The National Atlas website has a nice Shockwave animation illustrating the invasion between 1988 and 1999:
Animated Map Showing Zebra Mussel Distribution
Will "mussel glue" fix broke eye glasses?
Glue in the News
apparently, mussel research is not an equal opportunity employer ;)
-- Who is the bigger fool? The fool or the fool who follows him? --
I can't wait for a new superhero: Mussel Man
He has the power of muscle and glue.
Take that Spiderman!
But does anything happen when you huff muscle glue?
the military is interested in this adhesive for marine purposes especially. this could be used for live underwater repairs. it holds much stronger, to more surfaces, and longer when compared to traditional superglue. it's supposed to work quite well outside of water, as well, but i'm not familiar with whether it needs water to set.
...my cooking.
There must be different kinds of mussel glues, though, as some mussels really DO taste like glue...
Sigs for Nerds. Sigs that Matter.
Now I have this image of vast hordes of zebra mussels stampeding across the midwestern plains....
Or are those zebras?
...because the last thing we all need is to have weak mussels...
..rimshot..
Thank you, thank you, I'll be here forever...
Twin or more? ITA
Apache/Spring/La
check out image #7 at the link:
. ht m
http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/04/pr0402_images
... is someone to produce a super-mussel in its own shimmering vat, just pumping the stuff out for us to make our own spacecraft hulls with.
Should be easy.
What would be interesting is a genetically mutated mussel for ships which a) roams around sealing cracks, and b) kills all other non super-mussel mussels from the hull.
Maybe a super ship fixing mussel with frickin' lazers on its valves? That'd rock.
But anyway, I'm serious about the shipfixing idea. Why can't we work -with- nature instead of against it all the time, why oh why?
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
I'm Offtopic?
you're OFFTOPIC!
This whole thread is OFFTOPIC!!!!!
On the oxidation state of the iron molecules. The glue dissolver might have to reduce the iron in order to break the bond. Iron is commonly found in the Fe2+ and Fe3+ oxidation states. If the iron molecules are in the Fe2+ state, then you would be correct.
There's a couple of easy mnemonics to remember the general RedOx rules:
OLEGON (Oxidation is Loss of Electrons and Gain in Oxidation Number)
or
LEO says GER (Loss of Electrons is Oxidation, Gain of Electrons is Reduction).
There's probably others, but basic chemistry was a looong time ago for me...
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
"This overview contains more details and references about this discovery."
:)
Wouldnt an overview have less details?
My user number is prime. Is yours?
Did they try T-Fal? Maybe they should spray some Pam.
Lessee, handsome young professor, with EIGHT grad students. All coincidentally female and good looking. What are the odds of THAT? Spend a lot of time in the lab, do ya, Doc?
m .j pg
http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/04/images/thetea
I'm going to let everyone ELSE make the jokes, thanks.
-Styopa
If only we can figure out a way to sneak some of this stuff into Darl McBride's mouth.
Bye bye humans and all other life on the planet...
Don't fuck with the food chain!
NOT A TROLL, same thought line as this
Prof Wilker - SCORE! (Score:2)
George Lucas has a strange desire to make a movie...about giant mussels...invading from outer space....
What are "permanent ideas"? How are these ideas harmful? I am confused. I also don't see how gecko tape or mollusk glue are harmful to recycling efforts. If anything they help. If something breaks I can "permanently" fix it with gecko tape or mollusk glue instead of throwing it away. How does this harm future generations?
Now nuclear waste is the sort of problem that we shouldn't be passing on to future generations, but I fail to see how glue is going to destroy your grandchildren. Unless they sniff too much of it.
I am adding some text here because the above somehow does not meet the strict requirements of the lameness filter. Perhaps it is too compressible? I don't know. This verbage should lower the average amount of repetion in my post.
The post still comes back as unacceptable. This is Slashdot censorship. Someone is messing with me here. I would like to know what the problem is. Help?
Lasers Controlled Games!
Did anyone else see the link in the overview page entitled "NSF page" and hope for some nudy mussel pics?
... /shuffles back to fark
No?
such as the zebra mussel that has ravaged the midwestern United States.
Those zebra mussels must be pretty badass to be growing in Nebraska cornfields.
(yes, I know zebra mussels are a problem for inland freshwater bodies. The joke is still funny. Thank you.)
who are those slashdot people? they swept over like Mongol-Tartars.
Whoopdedoo. When they get a guy to stick a mussel on his hat and use it to hang from a steel girder high over the city, then I'll be impressed.
--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
NSF? You mean the National Secessionist Forces? I have a feeling that they didn't discover this for themselves, they probably just hijacked a shipment from UNATCO.
True story.
From (what else?) www.zebra-mussels.com:
"In the late 1980's zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) first arrived in North America by traveling in the ballast tanks of freighters where the mussels ultimately were discharged into the Great Lakes. Since that time, zebra mussels have had a significant negative impact on the environment and industries in both the United States and Canada. Native North American wildlife is being destroyed by the zebra mussel, pipelines and inlet structures are being encrusted, heat exchangers are being plugged, and general all around havoc is being created as the zebra mussels migrate south.
The migration has occurred at a very rapid rate (Figure 1) and zebra mussels are now found as far south as New Orleans and have invaded most of the major river systems (Mississippi, Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee, Arkansas and Cumberland) as well as inland lakes and reservoirs. "
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he taught one of my undergrad inorganic chem classes! good/funny/interesting to see him slashdotted!
... ahwell, dere goes me karma den.
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
If I understand correctly, the ultimate goal of these studies is materials capable of "transient permanence". We could have a glue that would hold indefinitely, but releases its grip when you add a particular molecule that unties the connections. Or gecko tape that sticks with amazing tenacity, until an electric field is applied to the tape, causing the microscopic gripping "feet" to release. Or even plastics that don't exude organic volatiles, that are sturdy but can be converted to a recastable form upon command.
Industry has already made superstable substances (like dioxins or CFCs), but by looking to biology for inspiration, we may be able to make substances whose long-term stability will reduce waste, while allowing a graceful dismantling when their usefulness has been outlived.
Really, you might check to make sure your Gaydar is working.
Super glue is used to glue the eyelash closed after eye surgery. It's packaged as "surgery" glue, but it's the exact same thing as common household super glue.
hampster versus hamster.
Oh shit, you're dumb!
The shifting of the plates is how the Earth relieves pressure. Earthquakes, IIRC, tend to form as the result of the plates sticking. They get stuck, generally due to friction, although I guess super-mussels may be a fairly viable situation now, and the earthquake happens as the result of the plates violently getting unstuck. Think of trying to pull open a jammed drawer. You keep applying pressure, trying to yank it out, then suddenly it comes loose and you and the drawer go flying backwards. I'll admit that when he mentioned the mussels continuously sealing the ship, my first thought was starships... *shrug* More of an isolated medium out there, although you'd have to conquer those minor things like no breathable air and radiation... And then giant space hamsters... yeah... ^_^
This sig has absolutely no significance and serves only to take up screen space and waste the time of the reader.
His lab team is all female except for him. It's pretty weird, but a couple of them are fairly attractive.
Girls!
...at an ASC conference a year or so ago. Very well put-together presentation - I didn't read the article (yay typical /. behavior), so I'm going by my memory of the talk and slides
As I recall, the fella from Purdue had mentioned that the primary interest they were pursuing was to try and exploit the technology for a medical/surgical adhesive, but that a firm understanding of the chemical mechanism could be worth quite a bit to the US Navy, since estimates put fuel waste and inefficiency (due to increased drag on ships because of the molluscs attached to the hull) runs into the billions...
(As a funny aside, this guy was probably the only talk at the conference that really got people interested. There's only so much excitement to be had in glue. :P )
Karma: Excellent, but still won't get you laid.
That isn't funny if you use any lake infested with these things. The reproduce very quickly, and get in the way of both the native species of our lakes, and recreation uses.
*sigh*
we are building a religion
a limited edition
we are now accepting callers
for these pendant key chains
"Mussel glues present the first identified case in which transition metals are essential to the formation of a non crystalline biological material," says NSF CAREER awardee Jonathan Wilker of Purdue University.
I'm no NSF CAREER awardee, but a mere Chemical Engineering drop out, but I can name hemoglobine, which is not crystaline (commonly used in solution), _needs_ iron, and is quite useful for life
From the research page http://www.chem.purdue.edu/wilker/adhesives.htm It would appear the the iron is only involved in stabilizing the transition state responsible for crosslinking the Dopaquinone monomers. The final glue appears to be iron free. Does anyone have a better mechanism referernce?
I make my face look like this and concerned words come out.
Hemoglobin would be considered a crystaline biological material as it was if I recall crystalized well before DNA. Musssel glue polymer would have to much structural heterogeneity to permit formation of true crystals.
I make my face look like this and concerned words come out.
Here's a practical application
Step 1) Discover secret of Mussel Glue-like substance
Step 2) ????????????????/
Step 3) Profit
Remember, a truly wise man never plays leapfrom with a unicorn
when you sniff aromatic and non-aromatic hydrocarbons...
If you are one of those types that likes to sniff glue/paint (gold paint seems to be the favorite among "huffers"... due to its higher toluene content), I'd advise you to stop.
That kind of foolishness can not only kill you quickly (by sensitizing your heart to circulating catecholamines... in laymans terms, your heart starts beating funny and you die), but also over the long-term by damaging your brain, liver, kidneys... as well as making you blind, deaf, and insane. You probably know a few old alcoholics or hippies... bet you don't know nearly as many old huffers. Glue and paint fumes are way too toxic, and are guaranteed to shorten your lifespan.
For the love of god... if you've absolutely postitively got to abuse something, pick something less toxic... you're likely to last a lot longer than you will huffing paint or glue.
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
Several medical glues are used, in varying applications.
The one I personally use the most is trade-named Dermabond... it's a superglue for skin lacerations. It's NOT the same compound as regular super glue (conventional super glue is typically cyanoacrylate). Dermabond is a bit different: it's actually butylcyanoacrylate, and has a little better stress modulus than regular super glue (a bit more flexible, not quite as brittle).
There is also a similar compound used primarily by the orthopedic surgeons to glue prostheses, rods, etc in place. That compound is usually some form of methyl methacrylate.
There are probably others, but those are the two that jump immediately to mind. They are chemically close, but not the same as conventional superglue.
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
make my funk the p.funk!
I wonder if this study could also lead into the devlopment of a better Teflon.
wbs.
Huh?
How the hell do you package such glue for sale?
Talk about child-proof caps...
REM Old programmers don't die. They just GOSUB without RETURN.
OILRIG - Oxidation Is Loss, Reduction Is Gain
Hemoglobin isn't crystalline in the body, just in the X-ray crystallography lab. Transport proteins generally work by changing shape, which is hard if you are a crystal.
I found that quote from the article weird as well, because I can think of many proteins that use transition metals (cobalamin for example.) I think what the guy meant to say was that this is example is unique as an extra-organism biological material incorporating a transition metal.
Go Boilers! :-D
About time they did something with all that research money the new pres. raised...; )
Janine M. Benyus in her book Biomimicry : Innovation Inspired by Nature deals with the subject of mussells superglue and a host of others. It's a good read as a general intro to the work being done to derive new products and methodologies from mimicing nature.
"Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
Cohen
In a related story, many national governments have commented that horses are "long due for extinction" as they have "overstayed their welcome". Certainly, with the advent of the automobile, the utility of horses was much diminished, and now with another natural, stronger, and less invasive glue source, horses have simply become "useless in our society".
Many were apathetic regarding the issue.
Mr. Ed was not available for comment.
If you would be intact, you would not need lubricants and sex would be much better. If you restore your praepuce, you will not need lubricants and you will partially regain lost sexual sensation. I suggest that you go to Norm.Org:
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Impeach Bush
s/Wilker/"NSF CAREER awardee Jonathan Wilker"/g
s/"Mike Clarke"/"chemist Mike Clarke, the NSF program officer who oversees Wilker's award"/g
Don't laugh. The attributions in the article text look exactly like they were edited with a script.
All your mussels are belong to us.
Shellfish of about this size are used in Japan as soup flavouring. Just toss 'em in, and don't bother to try to winkle out the meat.
Don't know about adding mussel snot. Rancid beans yes, snot, no.
you do know that mister ed was a zebra right?
*resistance is futile, or fuzzy, i dunno*
Would be fun to replace the hot grits in my pants with a couple of these mussels.
David Suzuki's series The Nature Of Things had a really interesting programme on biomimicry in which Janine Benyus was one of the main people interviewed.
Parenthetically: there was a period in my life when I used to end up virtually every weekend watching daytime television while nursing the most horrible and well-deserved hang-overs. For some reason, Swedish TV chose to broadcast most of its David Suzuki shows during those hours. When hung-over, there is something oddly soothing about Suzuki's science-lite; by its sheer optimism and faith it can almost, almost make you believe that there is a light and a life at the end of the hung-over tunnel.
The liver is evil and must be punished.
The veld is an open grassy plateau in South Africa (where veld goats are a native species), and last I heard, Mongolia was still just north of China.
Of course this reply does mean that I just bit, doesn't it. Oh well.
btw: Cacti are native only to the Americas and Africa.
Oops, bit again, guess I just can't help myself. Nice troll anyway.
Read, L
This work was done in 1996 by Herb Waite. He not only did the same work, he did it in a superior manner, with more definitive proof. And he not only POSTULATED the Fe(III) mediated crosslinking, he proved it. The appropriate reference is:
"Ferric Ion Complexes of a DOPA-Containing Adhesive Protein from Mytilus edulis", Inorg. Chem., 35 (1996), p7572
In other words, don't get your science from popular news outlets... and apparently one can't even trust Angewandte Chemie anymore. Their reviewer must have been out to lunch.
I imagine the majority of /. readers use their own mussels to make their own "glue" while waiting for their pr0n to download and reading these articles. I should get an award for that discovery.