McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University

Phil Messersmith’s work on developing mussel-inspired adhesives was featured in an article on LiveScience.

Messersmith, Erastus Otis Haven Professor of biomedical engineering and materials science and engineering, is looking into several biomedical applications for mussel glue, including as a sealant for fetal surgery.

"Being inspired by biological material, you're sort of working in the dark if you don't have a full understanding of the native tissue, and I think that's a stage we haven't yet reached. On some level, we're still guessing about how to design our synthetic materials because we don't fully understand the native system," said Messersmith.