The next generation of high-tech adhesives may get a jump-start from the science behind sticky frog tongues. New research led by Oregon State University鈥檚 College of Engineering finds the chemical makeup of frog mucus could guide design for glues used in mechanics and medicine.
Joe Baio is an assistant professor of bioengineering at OSU and co-author of the study. He鈥檚 also become quite the frog mucus enthusiast.
鈥淵eah, so what we did was鈥� basically stuck a clean glass slide, like a microscope slide and put a fly right behind the slide,鈥� Baio says. 鈥淎nd then convinced the frog to strike the slide and leave a tongue print, a mucus print on the surface.鈥�
Turns out frog tongue mucus is a pressure-sensitive adhesive.
In the amphibian鈥檚 mouth, it鈥檚 in a sort of 鈥渙ff state鈥� but when the tongue strikes at prey (like a tasty cricket) and then retracts鈥攖he force causes a chemical structure change and the mucus becomes very sticky.
Through chemical analysis, Baio鈥檚 team proved for the first time, the structural state of frog mucus while it was attached to a surface. That biochemistry may now be reproduced for medical applications-- like gluing tissues together in surgery. Baio says anywhere adhesives are needed, his research could help. All thanks to a frog.
Findings were published Monday, November 26, 2018, in the journal Biointerfaces.
Copyright 2018