Key to Mussel ‘Glue’ Is Found to Be Iron

The “glue” that saltwater mussels use to cling to rocks is made of proteins cured with iron filtered from ocean water -- a discovery potentially useful to adhesive makers, shippers and dentists -- a chemist said. “These animals appear to use iron in a way that has never been seen before,” Purdue University chemist Jonathan Wilker said.

The sticky filaments, or “beard,” that a mussel excretes through its “foot” affix it to surfaces as slippery as Teflon. The bio-adhesive is based on proteins, which resemble gelatin prior to hardening with iron. Mussels filter the iron from surrounding seawater, the same way they collect food.