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Grasshopper Legs

The power behind grasshopper legs is due not only to the anatomical composition of the insect's body, but by an ultra-elastic protein found in its joints. That protein may serve as inspiration for manufacturing a near perfect rubber. 

Biomimetic Designs

Blood Vessel Repair:

The Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) of Australia used an extract of the resilin gene to create a rubber-like molecule that can be used in the biomedical field. Given its structural similarities to elastin, it is currently being tested to repair damaged blood vessels. Elastin is naturally occurring in the human body to cause blood vessels to expand and contract, but resilin may allow for a stronger, synthetic replacement of that molecule for bodies that have aged. 

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Building Resilience in the Human Body: 

The biomedical applications do not simply stop at blood vessel repairs- there are endless possibilities for the utilization of resilin, both in and out of the human body. Suggestions include artificial tendons and ligaments, spinal disc implants, and heart valve substitutes. Beyond the body, this rubber-like material could easily be applied to produce higher efficiency springs and rubbers for industrial use. 

The Science Behind Grasshopper Legs

The protein Resilin was first discovered in 1960 by Weis-Fogh. Resilin acts as a main component of insect ligaments, and is most notably valuable due to its nearly perfect elasticity. It is reported that its elastic efficiency is 97%, which means only 3% of stored energy is lost as heat. What's more is that resilin allows for elastic tendons to be stretched over three times its original length, and then return to its original length almost immediately, with no breakage.

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Resilin has cross-linked molecules that are "flexible and conformationally free", which explains its base polymer elasticity, but its abnormal perfection is what has scientist puzzled. The theories behind this elasticity are based in two main schools of thought. The first is known as rubber theory, which uses a decrease in "conformational entropy on deforming a network of kinetically free, random polymer molecules" to explain elasticity. The second theory suggests that the elasticity is a product of a beta-spiral structure within the material. This theory was presented by D.W. Urry back in 1988, and connects to other scientific analysis of the components of resilin, such as entropic elastomers, making it compositionally similar to elastin. 

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