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	Podcast:		UC Science Today
	Episode:		Testing fetal surgery glues inspired by nature
	Category:		Science & Medicine
	Duration:		00:01:03
	Publish Date:		2016-09-12 19:00:00
	Description:		How do researchers test new glues for fetal surgery? Bioengineer Phillip Messersmith of the University of California, Berkeley is synthesizing bio-inspired glues to seal the delicate amniotic sac during a procedure. The glues are based off an adhesive used by mussels, the hard-shelled mollusks, to stick to wet surfaces. And it takes multiple rounds of testing to make sure such a product does in fact work. "The entry level testing would involve some mimic of a tissue. We could use, for example, and do routinely use, sausage casing, which actually has relatively similar mechanical properties to the fetal membranes." If some of these formulations look promising, the next step is to test them on fetal membrane tissues like discarded placentas from births. "For formulations that work well in that situation, then we can advance to a third stage which would be pre-clinical animal studies." Messersmith and his team are currently working to strengthen their second generation of glues.
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