Scientists Study Intelligence Behind Porcupine Quills
- 11 years ago
Scientists are studying the intelligence behind porcupine quills.
Porcupines have a unique defense method that they are famous for:
sharp quills that are an effective deterrent against predators.
Scientists have discovered that porcupine quills have microscopic barbs that make it easier for the quill to penetrate flesh, and also make it harder to pull the quill out.
Researchers say that to penetrate muscle tissue, 60 to 70 percent less force was used by quills that had barbs compared to quills without them.
The physics of it has been compared to a serrated knife edge which makes cutting soft foods much easier as the pressure is more concentrated where the ridges are.
The research includes effort from a team of scientists including Doctor Jeffrey Karp from the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.who said: “our work could lead to next-generation medical adhesives that could replace staples or sutures. An adhesive porcupine mimetic patch could be quickly placed, which would be especially useful under emergency conditions."
This is not the first time Doctor Karp has drawn inspiration from nature for his research. In his previous works, Doctor Karp used spider webs to develop an adhesive that is gentle enough to be used on the skin of premature infants. He also developed a DNA chain that can filter tumor cells from the blood, inspired by jellyfish tentacles.
Porcupines have a unique defense method that they are famous for:
sharp quills that are an effective deterrent against predators.
Scientists have discovered that porcupine quills have microscopic barbs that make it easier for the quill to penetrate flesh, and also make it harder to pull the quill out.
Researchers say that to penetrate muscle tissue, 60 to 70 percent less force was used by quills that had barbs compared to quills without them.
The physics of it has been compared to a serrated knife edge which makes cutting soft foods much easier as the pressure is more concentrated where the ridges are.
The research includes effort from a team of scientists including Doctor Jeffrey Karp from the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.who said: “our work could lead to next-generation medical adhesives that could replace staples or sutures. An adhesive porcupine mimetic patch could be quickly placed, which would be especially useful under emergency conditions."
This is not the first time Doctor Karp has drawn inspiration from nature for his research. In his previous works, Doctor Karp used spider webs to develop an adhesive that is gentle enough to be used on the skin of premature infants. He also developed a DNA chain that can filter tumor cells from the blood, inspired by jellyfish tentacles.