North American porcupine upper parts are covered with thousands of sharp, barbed hollow spines (quills), which are used for defense. The ability of these quills to easily penetrate tissues are often hard to remove once lodged in flesh intrigued an international group of researchers, and their investigation might inspire development of medical needles that easily… »

A research team led by biomedical engineers at Tufts University in collaboration with researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign developed a technology they call transient electronics – small and fully biocompatible electronic devices that are able to dissolve harmlessly into their surroundings after functioning for a desired amount of time, thus eliminating the… »

After using state-of-the-art technology to screen thousands of different materials and testing their reaction to bacteria, researchers at the University of Nottingham have discovered a new class of polymers that are resistant to bacterial attachment. Since the material disallows formation of bacteria communities (known as biofilms), it is suitable for use in medical applications and… »

Researchers of the Max Planck Institute (MPI) of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, the MPI of Microstructure Physics in Halle and the University of Vienna have investigated the composition and structure of spider fangs which serve as reusable hypodermic needles used to inject paralyzing venom into their prey. The findings may lead to development of… »