If we have batman and spider-Man, why don't we have any mussel su-perheroes?" asks biochemist Herbert Waite of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Mussels may not be the biggest or the flashiest of sea creatures. But they do one thing exceedingly well. They make a glue that lets them anchor themselves firmly to a rock and remain there— drenched by water, buffeted by the ocean's waves. "I don't know any other adhesive that can do that," says Waite. In fact, nature can accomplish feats that engineers have only been able to dream of until now. But as scientists peer deeper into the cellular and molecular workings of nature, engineers are starting to find information they can apply to everything from advanced optics to robotics—even a mussel-inspired glue that could one day be used to repair shattered bones.
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