Hasta La Ideas

Thanks to this little guy, scientists are finding more efficient ways to stitch people up

Design’s role in medical discoveries is always an exciting topic of conversation, from design experiments like Jake Evill’s 3D-printed cast to DIY solutions like the $15 iPhone hack with the potential to improve 600 million lives. Like the latter, this story begins with the efforts of a group of medical scientists. Through researching various animals that have evolved and mastered the art of staying upright in sticky surfaces (think slugs and flies), they were looking for a more effective medical adhesive that wouldn’t have the same destructive qualities as traditional sutures.

Of course, we’re used to seeing sutures (stitches, in non-technical parlance) in a more traditional, semi-gory Hollywood context—ripping in and out of skin with cringe-worthy zeal—but when you think about it, that can’t be the best option for more delicate fix-ups involving, say, any of our internal organs. Now, a group of scientists have come up with a medical-grade adhesive design straight from nature, inspired by the viscous secretion from the Sandcastle Worm.

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