Iron key to mussel power
January 13, 2004 Edition 1
The 'glue' that saltwater mussels use to cling to rocks is made up of proteins cured with iron filtered from ocean water, a discovery potentially useful to adhesives makers, shippers and dentists, a US chemist said in Chicago yesterday.
"These animals appear to use iron in a way that has never been seen before," Purdue University chemistry professor Jonathan Wilker said.
The sticky filaments, or "beard", that a mussel excretes through its "foot" fix it to surfaces as slippery as Teflon. The foot dabs bits of glue until it is anchored.
The bio-adhesive is based on proteins which resemble gelatin prior to hardening with iron. Mussels filter the iron from seawater.
Wilker began his research after marveling at the creatures' tenacity while scuba diving.
"Research based on materials like this one could open up new branches of adhesives research," he said. - Reuters
