Hagfish slime aids NSA PC researchers – The News Herald

By reproducing the slime, Navy researchers one day could replace synthetic products derived from petroleum products such as Kevlar, which is used in bulletproof vests. Its not just science fiction, either.

It looks and feels a lot like snot, but Navy researchers believe slime produced by the primitive hagfish could help save lives.

The bottom-dwelling hagfish is commonly referred to as a slime eel because it looks like an eel and produces a slimy substance that quickly expands in water to enable it to escape from predators by clogging up their attackers gills.

That unique capability is what has captured the imagination of the United States Navy. Its researchers believe that, by reproducing the slime, they one day could replace synthetic products derived from petroleum products such as Kevlar, which is used in bulletproof vests. Its not just science fiction, either.

The Navy says one of its research teams in Bay County already has recreated the material. Now its beginning to work on how best to turn the synthetic slime into something useful.

From a tactical standpoint, it would be interesting to have a material that can change the properties of the water at dilute concentrations in a matter of seconds, Ryan Kincer, a materials engineer at Naval Surface Warface Center, Panama City Division, said in a statement.

The Navy also envisions using the material in products to protect firefighters and divers, as an anti-shark spray, and as a coating for ships to protect against algae, barnacles and other aquatic life that typically attach to them. Eventually, some products derived from the slime could work their way into the private sector.

While there are several varieties of hagfish frequently called one of the worlds ugliest species Navy researchers used the Pacific hagfish in their slime-duplication efforts. Thats because the Pacific hagfish has already been genetically sequenced.

Josh Kogot, a biochemist at Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division, said using the Pacific hagfish allowed researchers to work quickly by specifically looking into its DNA sequence and proteins. The slime theyre interested in is a combination of two proteins and saltwater.

Kogot said it took about six months to be able to reproduce the slime into a filament.

Whats fascinating to me is just how simple in the grand scheme of things this system is. Its really a two-protein system with seawater, and its able to be this strong and expansive, he said. It can expand 10,000 times in volume in milliseconds.

To create the proteins, Kogot grew them in separate E. coli dishes, isolated and purified them, and then combined them with a centrifuge. Researchers knew they had successfully duplicated the slime by examining their version with a scanning electron microscope.

Kogot said no special equipment was necessary, either; its all equipment most biotechnology researchers already have. The filament thats created is stored in a screwtop vial and is kept in a refrigerator when its not in use, although it maintains its properties at room temperature.

Kogot said some practical-application testing on the material alreadyhas begun, but he did not elaborate for what uses.

Right now, his team is looking for ways to increase the duplicated slimes ability to attach to different surfaces, potential delivery systems, and enhancing its stability in different environments, according to the Navy.

Kogot said its too early to tell when a product using the synthetic slime could be integrated into the fleet, but testing on specific applications could begin within six months to a year.

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Hagfish slime aids NSA PC researchers - The News Herald