Scientists have taken the gene that produces resilin and used it to create a super-strong rubbery polymer with potential use in surgery.
The work, by Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization is featured in the scientific magazine, Nature.
The outstanding mechanical properties of resilin out-performs even the highest-grade rubber in its ability to withstand stress and ability to bounce back into shape.
Writing in Nature, the researchers say, "Resilin resembles cross-linked elastin in human arteries, which must also survive for the entire lifetime of the organism."
