Bio‐inspired Protein‐Based and Activatable Adhesion Systems
Christina Heinritz, Xuen J. Ng, Thomas Scheibel
Abstract
Abstract Adhesives are in general chemically or physically sticky substances used to join surfaces. In case of gluing biological and living substrates, there is a need for bioadhesives that meet requirements such as biocompatibility, non‐toxicity, and degradability. Inspiration for bioadhesives is found in nature, where distinct mussels, sandcastle worms, barnacles, caddisfly larvae, spiders, and glowworms amongst others, use mainly protein‐based glues for various purposes. There is a great selection of reviews and books covering the use of various bioadhesives in various applications, but here the focus lies on advances in the development of bio‐inspired protein‐based adhesives for biomedical applications.