Underwater Glue

Have you ever had a cut so bad that it required stitches? Wouldn't it be nice if, instead of using needles and silk thread, doctors could just apply some "special glue" that would hold the skin together? Think how nice it would be if your backyard pool sprang a leak, and you could simply squeeze some of this special glue around the hole to repair it. Researchers think they have finally found that "special glue." One of the problems with glues and adhesives in the past has been that they didn't work well in water. Since much of the body is composed of water, doctors have had to turn to stitches to sew up wounds. But scientists have found a creature—the blue mussel—that manufactures a glue-like substance that works great underwater.

Blue mussels love cold water, and can be found worldwide in most polar and temperate waters. In North America, they can be found along beaches from Canada down to North Carolina, and in some parts of California. Blue mussels are shellfish that normally have two bluish-black shells that look somewhat like a pear (similar to clams). Projecting out from between the shells on the bottom side is a bundle of tough, brown fibers called the byssal threads or byssus (commonly called "the beard"). Mussels use these fibers to anchor to rocks, pilings, and other mussels. It is the glue that holds these threads to solid surfaces that fascinates researchers. This glue holds extremely well underwater, and is strong enough to keep the mussels anchored, even when waves pound them. What makes it even better is that it can be appliedunderwater!

Scientists have analyzed this special underwater adhesive, and have already begun to make similar products. A company called BD Biosciences took the key proteins that make up this "underwater glue" and made a product called Cell-Tak. This material is used to attach cells or tissue sections to many types of surfaces where they normally wouldn't stick, including plastic, glass, metal, and Teflon^®. Researchers are now busy finding ways to help dentists and surgeons operate without using stitches. They also believe that this material may allow them to make paints and coatings that could work underwater. All of this from a small shellfish that God so intelligently designed!

---

Copyright © 2014 Apologetics Press, Inc. All rights reserved.

*Please keep in mind that Discovery articles are written for 3rd-6th graders.

This document may be copied, on the condition that it will not be republished in print unless otherwise stated below, and will not be used for any commercial purpose, as long as the following stipulations are observed: (1) Apologetics Press must be designated as the original publisher; (2) the specific Apologetics Press Web site URL must be noted; (3) any references, footnotes, or endnotes that accompany the article must be included with any written reproduction of the article; (4) textual alterations of any kind are strictly forbidden; (5) Some illustrations (e.g., photographs, charts, graphics, etc.) are not the intellectual property of Apologetics Press and as such cannot be reproduced from our site without consent from the person or organization that maintains those intellectual rights; (6) serialization of written material (e.g., running an article in several parts) is permitted, as long as the whole of the material is made available, without editing, in a reasonable length of time; (7) articles, in whole or in part, may not be offered for sale or included in items offered for sale; and (8) articles may be reproduced in electronic form for posting on Web sites pending they are not edited or altered from their original written content and that credit is given to Apologetics Press, including the web location from which the articles were taken. Further, documents may not be copied without source statements (title, author, journal title), and the address of the publisher and owner of rights, as listed below.

For catalog, samples, or further information, contact:

Apologetics Press
230 Landmark Drive
Montgomery, Alabama 36117
U.S.A.
Phone (334) 272-8558

http://www.apologeticspress.org