- Who
- Caulobacter crescentus
- Where
- United States ()
- When
- 2006
In 2006, researchers at Indiana University, USA, found that the bacterium Caulobacter crescentus produced a sticky substance that allowed it to attach to virtually any surface and even under water. The bacteria produced a mixture of long sugar-based molecules called polysaccharides that are around 7 times stronger than a Gecko's sticky foot! The scientists measured 14 bacteria attaching themselves to a borosilicate substrate (glass-like base) and found it took a force between 0.11 to 2.26 micro-Newtons, averaging 0.59 ± 0.62 micro-Newtons, to detach the microbe. This equates to a ripping force of around 70 Newtons per square millimetre (10,153 pound-force per square inch) force over all compared to commercial 'super' glue (cyanoacrylate) that fails at around 25 newtons per square millimetre (3,626 pound-force per square inch). The report on the research appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
