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  • © 2010

Biological Adhesive Systems

From Nature to Technical and Medical Application

  • First comprehensive presentation of chemical-related bonding systems in plants and animals

  • Applicability and practicability of biological adhesives for research and industry

  • 3D computer-based reconstruction models as standard method for other disciplines and research field

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Table of contents (19 chapters)

  1. Part B

    1. Byssus Formation in Mytilus

      • Heather G. Silverman, Francisco F. Roberto
      Pages 273-283
    2. Wet Performance of Biomimetic Fibrillar Adhesives

      • K. H. Aaron Lau, Phillip B. Messersmith
      Pages 285-294
  2. Back Matter

    Pages 295-305

About this book

J. Herbert Waite Like many graduate students before and after me I was There are so many species about which nothing is known, mesmerized by a proposition expressed years earlier by and the curse of not knowing is apathy. Krogh (1929) – namely that “for many problems there is Bioadhesion is the adaptation featured in this book, an animal on which it can be most conveniently studied”. and biology has many adhesive practitioners. Indeed, This opinion became known as the August Krogh Prin- every living organism is adhesively assembled in the ciple and remains much discussed to this day, particu- most exquisite way. Clearly, speci? c adhesion needs to larly among comparative physiologists (Krebs, 1975). be distinguished from the opportunistic variety. I think The words “problems” and “animal” are key because of speci? c adhesion as the adhesion between cells in the they highlight the two fundamental and complementary same tissue, whereas opportunistic adhesion might be the foci of biological research: (1) expertise about an animal adhesion between pathogenic microbes and the urinary (zoo-centric), which is mostly observational and (2) a tract, or between a slug and the garden path. If oppor- mechanistic analysis of some problem in the animal’s life nistic bioadhesion is our theme, then there are still many history or physiology (problem-centric), which is usually practitioners but the subset is somewhat more select than a hypothesis-driven investigation. before.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Core Facility Cell Imaging and Ultrastructure Research Faculty of Life Science, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Janek Byern

  • Department of Adhesive Bonding Technology and Surfaces, Adhesives and Polymer Chemistry, Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials (IFAM), Bremen, Germany

    Ingo Grunwald

About the editors

Dr. Dipl.-Biol. Janek von Byern:

While he was studying at the Johann W. Goethe University in Frankfurt/Main and during several research stays at the private marine research station IFMB in Giglio, Italy, cephalopods and their complexity (flexibility, color adaptation, and intelligence) aroused Janek von Byern’s interest. With his diploma thesis he focused on the pharmacology and histology of the blood circulation system in Sepia officinalis.

Inspired by Uwe Piatkowski from the IFM-GEOMAR  institute he began to consider the abstract thought that cephalopods could also produce glue. During further marine research stays he met Prof. Dr. J. Ott from the Department of Marine Biology of the University of Vienna and finally moved in 2003 to their Core Cell Imaging and Ultrastructure research facility.

In his PhD he characterized the adhesive system of the pygmy squid Idiosepius and started to analyze the glue components biochemically. Sampling led him to South Africa, Mozambique, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan and Australia where he collected different species, which raised new knowledge of other glue-producing animals and their attachment behavior.

Dr. Dipl.-Biol. Ingo Grunwald:

is a research associate and project manager in the "Biomolecular Surfaces and Materials Design" work group at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials (IFAM) in Bremen, Germany. The Fraunhofer IFAM is the largest independent research organization in Europe in the area of industrial adhesive bonding technology. Ingo Grunwald's work at the Fraunhofer IFAM focuses on biomimetic materials and biofunctionalized surfaces. He studied biology at University of Hanover (Germany), with biochemistry and molecular biology being his main areas of interest. His Ph.D. work concerned the purification, characterization, and molecular cloning of a new sugar-binding protein. Research time spent at Cancer Research UK and at the TECHNION in Israel broadened his interest in protein interactions, protein analysis, and proteomics. He studied the functionality of material surfaces with designed proteins in the field of nanobiotechnology as part of postdoctoral work at the University of Stuttgart (Germany). Ingo Grunwald has a lectureship in bioanalytical methods and surface biofunctionalization at the University of Bremen (Germany).

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access