True Superglue

Psalm 9:1b
“I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.”

Try using superglue in wet conditions, and you’ll find that the glue is not so super. Even epoxy doesn’t work well in water. Scientists finally decided to turn to the lowly mussel to learn how to make better glues for use in wet environments.

Mussels manufacture their glue under water, yet the glue can withstand the force of a thousand pounds per square inch. Mussel glue will even stick to Teflon! The mussel begins by making the glue in two parts, each part made by a separate gland. One gland produces proteins that are like resin. The other gland makes the hardeners. When these are mixed, they harden into a strand in only a couple of minutes. The mussel will make many of these strands as it fastens itself to a rock. As more of these strands are made, they begin to cross-link with one another, greatly adding to the strength of the bond. The mussel makes between five and ten different kinds of protein strands, carefully limiting the cross-linking to produce the greatest strength. Without this mix, the bond would be brittle and easily break.

God’s creation is marvelously designed. His designs are still teaching us how to do even simple things better. The theory of evolution depends upon random chance events that, even if believable, can teach us nothing.

Prayer:
Father, I stand in awe of Your handiwork and rejoice in Your salvation. Amen.

Notes:
Discover, 2/03, pp. 22-23, Alan Burdick, “Cement on the Half Shell.” Photo: Marine blue mussel. Courtesy of Rainer Zenz. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.