NATUAL BACTERIA GLUING AGENT – USA RESEARCH
April 1st, 2006
BY MONICA DOBIE
A BACTERIA living in rivers and streams has proved a formidable gluing agent according to new research by both Indiana and Brown Universities in the US, which suggests it could be exploited commercially. Their scientists had to apply a force of about 1 micronewton to remove a single Caulobacter (C.) crescentus bacteria from a glass pipette. Because C. crescentus is so small, the pulling force of 1 micronewton actually generates a stress of 70 newtons per square millimetre. In real terms, such adhesion could withstand the equivalent to five tons ...
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