Hagfish Slime Makes Super-Clothes

Hagfish Slime Makes Super-Clothes

1 Dec 2013

One of the world’s creepiest creatures may be the source of new kinds of petroleum-free plastics and super-strong fabrics, according to research by scientists in Canada studying the hagfish, a bottom-dwelling creature that hasn’t evolved for 300 million years and produces a sticky slime when threatened.

A research team at Canada’s University of Guelph managed to harvest the slime from the fish, dissolve it in liquid, and then reassemble its structure by spinning it like silk. It’s an important first step in being able to process the hagfish slime into a useable natural material for clothing.
For more information about the plight of hagfish in New Zealand, check out Rebecca McLeod's great blog "Save the Snot Eels" at http://sciblogs.co.nz/science-life/tag/hagfish/

Nice little place they have down there by the water. Good place to go for a quick and fun outing. Interesting seeing all the various types of marine life they have in one building.

Archie

The Island Bay Marine Education Centre's Bait House Aquarium is an interactive marine experience based in Island Bay on Wellington's south coast.There are lots of different sea creatures on display including a couple of octupuses, sea horses, lobsters to name a few. You can also gently touch and handle starfish, sea cucumbers, sea anemones, crabs and other sea life found in the local rock pools outside.There's far more inside than you would expect. The volunteers and expert staff are very friendly and helpful. It is really reasonably priced and we were all entertained for ages. Really good fun and educational too. Definitely worth checking out with the family.

Haydn