A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (MPICI) and McGill University in Canada discovered strong adhesive properties of white-berry mistletoe. The mistletoe berry’s flexible fibers adhere to both skin and cartilage as well as to various synthetic materials and could find application in many fields, such as wound sealant in biomedicine, through ease of processing. For their research, the materials scientists led by Prof. Dr. Peter Fratzl picked the mistletoe berries from the trees themselves. From his office window, the director of the Department of Biomaterials can see the many green parasitic plants. ‘Mistletoe grows in large numbers everywhere, including the Max Planck Campus, and is biodegradable and renewable,’ says Peter Fratzl, adding, ‘For the first time, we are now investigating how to harness its excellent adhesive properties for potentially medical or technical uses.’
Original publication: Nils Horbelt, Peter Fratzl, Matthew J Harrington; Mistletoe viscin: a hygro- and mechanoresponsive cellulose-based adhesive for diverse material applications; PNAS Nexus, Volume 1, Issue 1, March 2022.
For further reading see Haustorium 82.