Slug glue: A future with no sutures?

The materials for stitching up injuries and surgical wounds may have changed over the millennia, but the basic process of suturing tissue remains the same. In the 21st century, however, the method may finally become outdated.

"Stiches are a very crude way to put someone back together," says Andrew Smith, a professor of biology at Ithaca College. Think about it: You're sewing two bits of skin together. Smith's research focus is in gels, specifically the gels secreted by certain slugs and snails. It's the stuff that lets the mollusks stick to wave-battered rocks or stay firmly glued in place when hungry birds try to pry them off and into their gullets.

Current medical adhesives have their limitations. When binding internal surgical incisions for example, stitches and staples are still the go-to method because adhesives will ultimately fail from exposure to bodily fluids. However, stitches and staples can fail as well, causing leakage and other complications.

Modern adhesives also fail when it comes to holding jagged cuts together; they work best when the cut is relatively straight and clean (and not too deep). Smith's work with slugs and snails, and the work of others researching the biomechanics of creatures such as mussels and barnacles, are paving the way to that day in the not-too-distant future when a needle and suture, or staple, are obsolete.

"Gel like this would make an ideal medical adhesive, Smith says. "It would stick to wet surfaces, and no matter how much the tissue flexed and bent, the gel would flex and bend with it. There would be no leakage or scarring."