Mechanisms for Self Healing in Gastropods: Lessons From Biology, a Case Study of Two Species, Lavigeria grandis and Nucella lamellosa
EMSL Project ID
3537
Abstract
In materials engineering, designs for materials are made to suit specific purposes, as a living organism evolves to fill a nitch in an ecosysytem. Unlike the biological world, materials cannot change to suit varying conditions, or repair themselves after an accident, usually ending in failure of the material, and a redesign for a new material. In nature organisms survive by adaptation, such as being able to heal themselves after an injury or disease. Organisms can repair biological hard tissues such as bone and shell. Bone repair is well documented, but it is a living entity and internally located. What makes mollusk shells so remarkable is their ability to heal and regrow their non-living tissues, externally. If lessons from biology, as in mollusk self healing, could be applied to materials systems, we could engineer a whole new generation of materials with the ability to heal themselves.
Project Details
Project type
Exploratory Research
Start Date
2003-06-14
End Date
2004-06-25
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator