Researchers have discovered that the defensive slime exuded by hagfish may be a source of high-performance protein fibers that could replace petrochemical-based polymers, such as nylon and plastic fibers, and fabrics woven from them. (Source: Wikimedia Commons/Peter Southwood)
I like this development but it needs to be renamed before it hits the public.
Slime fish silk isn't appealing. I don't see any benefit yet. If it can be as strong as spider silk in the future, that would be great. It's too early to have an opinion or comment.
The video of the self-asembing fibers was eye-opening and looked promising. I like the fact that this product could potentially displace some petro-chemical based polymers.
This could indeed be a valuable discovery, although it appears that quite a bit of process development will be needed. Possibly the best part may be the independence from petro-chemical feedstock requirements, although we were not told just what the feedstock does come from.
There should be quite a range of applications for the final product, though.
As for the name, why not call then "armor-fish", which has a much better ring to it.
I couldn't agree with you more, Nadine, about the name "fish slime". It's pretty gross. William, for industrial production levels the proteins would eventually be created by bacteria, as stated in the article. The current work is figuring out the best process for creating them to ensure sufficient strength and stiffness.
Ann, my point is that the bacteria need to feed on someting and the specific needs will dwtermine exactly what that feedstock winds up being. As with most discoveries, the moving from a laboratory operation into a production environment is the bigger part of the task. Sometimes the adaptation to production winds up being the show-stopper.
Chuck, do I detect a slight sense of irony in your comment? In any case, I agree--I've been amazed at the variety of sources, in nature and elsewhere, for potential materials.
A fascinating article, Ann. It never fails to impress me the lengths researchers will go as well as the creativity they use to find sources in nature for new materials and energy sources. It also shows just what an impressive force nature is and how complex it can be for humans to try to recreate natural materials, even with great ingenuity.
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