Link: Radio Australia - Innovations - Near-Perfect Rubber From Flea Power.
Dr. Christopher Elvin, principle research scientist with Australia's CSIRO Livestock Industries, describes how insects use the elastic protein Resilin to move more efficiently, either through storing energy (fleas) or flight (dragonflies). Inserting the genes for Resilin into bacteria has allowed production of liquid (uncross-linked) Resilin, which can then be cross-linked to form an elastic solid that returns 97% of the energy put into the substance, compared to 50-80% for other man-made rubber (the remaining energy is lost as heat).
Applications of Resilin-based rubber includes actuators or switches that need to move many times, artificial blood vessels, and spinal disk implants. Insects only create Resilin in the pupa stage, suggesting that it is an extremely durable substance.
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