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Israeli researchers at one of the country’s premier science and technology universities, The Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, have developed a remarkable “biological glue” alternative to sutures that could transform how wounds are treated, and surgeries performed.
The research was recently published in the scientific journal, Advanced Materials, and is the achievement of a team headed by Dr. Shady Farah from the Laboratory for Advanced Functional Medical Polymers and Smart Drug Delivery Technologies at the Technion’s Faculty of Chemical Engineering.
While traditional sealing methods to stop bleeding like sutures and staples often cause pain, trauma and also higher healthcare costs, The Jerusalem Post reports, existing bioadhesives suffer from imprecise fabrication, limited wet tissue adhesion, and limited biological functions for effective wound management.
This new material however, a smart biological adhesive mimicking human tissue for tissue bonding, as Technion Technology Transfer put it, copies the way in which mollusks stick to wet surfaces, and acts as an adhesive that bonds fast. It can bond to tissue in five to ten seconds, seal bleeding, and safely biodegrades inside the body.
These properties have led physicians and scientists in Israel and abroad to warmly welcome this news.
More About the Journey to This Remarkable Medical Material
Mollusks are animals with soft bodies lacking in spines, and are often covered with a shell. They include snails, slugs, oysters and cuttlefish.
Speaking to Ynet, Farah shares that the researchers wondered if they could learn from mollusks: “How do these creatures manage to adhere to smooth, wet surfaces? We wanted to learn from their chemistry and integrate it into our material.”
Mollusks use chemicals known as catechols to create strong bonds that can adhere even in wet conditions. The research team went on to harness the same chemistry to create a polymer-based hydrogel that can mimic human tissue and stick rapidly and effectively to various types of tissue.
What’s so remarkable about the team’s work, Farah outlines, as All Israel News reports, is that it overcomes the limitations of existing biological glues that are unable to bond in a stable way in wet environments with substances like excess water or blood, as the water competes for the same bonds. However, “By learning from nature’s chemistry, we managed to overcome this challenge,” he shares.
To create this new biological glue, the team used tannic acid, a compound derived from trees, and chemically modified it with other natural chemicals. The result is a polymer-based hydrogel made up largely of water with some additional natural,biocompatible substances. Crucially, it is recognized by cells as tissue-friendly.
What Next For This Innovative Healing Technique?
This new material is meant for practical use in surgery. Farah outlines that the team’s goal was the creation of a smart material that can be 3D-printed fast to be customized to the patient.
Furthermore, “It also has shape-memory properties. We can fix it in one form, and once it’s inside the body, it transforms into another predesigned shape in response to a physiological trigger. This enables a less invasive, less traumatic surgical process,” he adds.
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This new biological adhesive also has another USP: The ability to tackle infection. Farah explains that 11 percent of patients undergoing surgery develop infections at their incision site, with four million patients globally suffering from bleeding, infections, or other post-operative complications that prove fatal.
This new material demonstrates strong antibacterial activity against a range of bacteria: “It destroys bacterial cell calls, causing them to die quickly and preventing the formation of pathogenic biofilms.” This characteristic helps prevent postoperative complications.
The team, Farah details, will soon approach the stage of starting to trial the material in humans. The hope is that beyond its life-saving potential, not only will it be able to close wounds with reduced trauma and damage to surrounding tissues compared to stitches and staples, but it could also boost aesthetic outcomes after surgery, with fewer scars.
In the future, there is also the potential to include drugs in the adhesive to promote healing.
As Farah tells The Jerusalem Post: “We strongly believe that this innovation paves the way for next-generation bio-tapes, sealants, and wound care technologies that minimize trauma and improve recovery.”
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