New American Chemical Society podcast: Tiny sea creature and a new medical adhesive

Scientists questing after a long-sought new medical adhesive describe copying the natural glue secreted by a tiny sea creature called the sandcastle worm in the latest episode in the American Chemical Society's (ACS) award-winning podcast series, "Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions."

Such an adhesive is needed to repair bones shattered in battlefield injuries, car crashes and other accidents.

The traditional method of repairing shattered bones involves use of mechanical fasteners like pins and metal screws to support the bone during healing. But achieving and maintaining alignment of small bone fragments using screws and wires is challenging, according to researchers, who presented their study results at the ACS' 238th National Meeting in Washington, D.C.

The podcast is available without charge at iTunes and from ACS at www.acs.org/globalchallenges.

It features audio clips of Russell Stewart, Ph.D., a bioengineer at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Stewart says this synthetic glue is based on complex coacervates, an ideal but so far unused method for making injectable adhesives. Coacervates are tiny spherical droplets of assorted organic molecules (specifically, lipid molecules) that are held together by hydrophobic forces from a surrounding liquid.

He explains that the idea of using natural adhesives in medicine is an old one dating back to the first investigations of mussel adhesives in the 1980s. Yet almost 30 years later there are no adhesives based on natural adhesives used in the clinic.

Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions is a series of podcasts describing some of the 21st Century's most daunting problems, and how cutting-edge research in chemistry matters in the quest for solutions. This sweeping panorama of global challenges includes dilemmas such as providing a hungry, thirsty world with ample supplies of safe food and clean water; developing alternatives to petroleum to fuel society; preserving the environment and assuring a sustainable future for our children; and improving human health.

Future podcasts will discuss improving human health, developing alternatives to petroleum, preserving the environment and assuring a sustainable future for our children. The series has won the Gold Medal as the best podcast in the national awards competition sponsored by Association TRENDS, the national newspaper for associations.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 154,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

October 27, 2009