Got creaky joints? Smear them with beetle juice!

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-07-07 09:01

International

Image by jhenning_beauty_of_nature from Pixabay

A newly discovered protein-based grease found in the leg joints of beetles and cockroaches could aid the development of next-generation prosthetics and robotics. The grease has friction-reducing properties comparable to Teflon®, and spreads over the contacting surfaces to reduce friction in insects’ leg joints and presents a promising source of ideas for non-synthetic natural lubricants, say the authors.

Media release

From: The Royal Society

Insects use lubricants to minimize friction and wear in leg joints

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

For a long time the reduction of friction in insects’ leg joints remained enigmatic. A newly discovered protein-based grease in the leg joints of beetles and cockroaches effectively reduces friction comparable to the well-known Teflon®. This may help to better understanding of insects’ legged locomotion mechanism and become a promising source of ideas for further bionic applications in the area of novel lubricating materials. In this regard, this research may be of particular interest for robotics, microelectromechanics, and especially for prosthetics, in order to develop new generation of completely non-synthetic natural lubricants.

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Journal/
conference: Proceedings of the Royal Society B

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel, Germany

Funder: This work was supported by the grant for K.N. from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (temporary position for principal investigators, NA 126472-1).

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