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Contact: Lee Siegel
leesiegel@ucomm.utah.edu
801-581-8993
University of Utah
Caption: This image shows the end of a tube-shaped home built by a sandcastle worm. The normal part of the tube (far right) is made from bits of shell and sand pasted together with the worm's natural glue -- all constructed underwater. But in the laboratory, the worm was given glass beads and started gluing those together to continue making its tube (center). Bioengineers at the University of Utah have developed a synthetic form of this natural glue and hope it can be used in wet, bloody conditions to reattach pieces of shattered bones in the face and joints.
Credit: Russell Stewart, University of Utah.
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