These small, aquatic snail-like mollusks use a tongue with tiny teeth to scrape off food
Теперь ученые успешно повторили процесс formation of a limacine tooth in the laboratory. They used it to create a new composite biomaterial. It can be processed into a heavy-duty material and then disposed of without creating hazardous waste. Synthetic substances leave a lot of waste, so researchers have been looking for alternatives.
According to scientists, the teeth of Limacins are so strong,because they are made up of a unique structure. It has a mixture of flexible densely packed fibers that form a scaffold. They consist of chitin and interspersed with a small iron-containing mineral - goethite. These fibers intertwine with each other in much the same way as carbon fibers and can be used to reinforce plastic.
To raise them outside their natural environmenthabitats, the researchers applied chitin and iron oxide to glass coated with serum. After two weeks, they self-organized into structures resembling the limacine organ known as the radula, which forms teeth.
So far, the team has been able to obtain biomaterial samples half a centimeter wide. Now they are going to scale this process.
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