Natural selection and evolution leads to traits that promote the overall success of a species. Some adaptations that nature has developed over millions of years are so clever and advanced that it becomes more advantageous to rip-off ideas that nature came up with, rather than try to develop our own. This biological plagiarism is called biomimicry, and is becoming an ever more popular form of research.
This biomimicry is a aspect of research that Dr. Tak-Sing Wong, assistant professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering, is focusing on. Named one of the 35 Innovators Under 35 by the MIT Technology Review, Tak-Sing Wong is researching biologically inspired surfaces here at Penn State.
One of his research projects takes cues from the wondrous pitcher plant. Pitcher plants grow in soil which lacks nutrients important for the plant's growth, and since they are still here today, you know they have developed a mechanism to get them around this barrier to survival. Pitcher plants have modified leaves that resemble pitchers that one could serve iced tea in. At the bottom of these pitchers is a pool of bacteria or enzymes which dissolves the unsuspecting insect prey, allowing the plant to absorb the critical nutrients that the soil lacks. One of the big issues that the pitcher plant had to overcome to become successful is how to keep the insect inside the plant after it falls in the pitcher.
Through copious generations of survival (and death of unsuccessful plants), the pitcher plant has developed an incredibly slippery surface, a surface that insects cannot grip onto, keeping them trapped inside the pitcher for digestion. Wong's laboratory has taken cues from the pitcher plant and has created an incredibly slippery surface by assembling a porous solid impregnated with a lubricant, creating a "stable, defect-free, inert "slippery" interface."
The surface, named SLIPS (Slippery Liquid-Infused Porous Surfaces) can repel pretty much any liquid or organism, allowing it to roll right off, as seen from this video taken from his lab. Many more examples of the surface's prowess can be found at the bottom of Wong's website.
Due to its ability to function in rather harsh conditions (high pressures, resisting icing, physical stressors), the surface has many applications, like in medical equipment to prevent the harboring of bacteria, on boats to prevent barnacle growth, or in liquid transport systems that undergo physical stress. Maybe coat your clothes with it to make that ketchup slide right off!
Tak-Sing Wong's lab is doing some fantastic stuff, so this might not be the last time you hear about him here. If you'd like to read a little bit more in depth on this particular project, the article that was published in Nature can be found here.
John, as someone also interested in science and research, I think your blog was very well done. You did a good job to make your post accessible to people with all levels of scientific background. However, by including various media such as links, pictures, and video, you allowed the motivated readers to dig deeper into the subject. Well done.
ReplyDelete