New research into the toe hairs of gecko aims to recreate in synthetic substances the incredible adhesive properties unique to these tropical lizards.

The stickiness of a gecko's toes is the reason a gecko can climb walls and attach itself to surfaces with ease. The creatures can even run across any surface at 20 body lengths per second by quickly changing the state of stickiness of its toe hairs.

Like Us on Facebook

Alex Greaney, an engineering professor at the Oregon State University in Corvallis, and his colleagues have discovered geckos don't really stick to surfaces.

Instead, these lizards do something to make themselves sticky.

"It's this incredible synergy of the flexibility, angle and extensibility of the hairs that makes it possible," said Greaney.

Scientists reported that geckos have hundreds of microscopic hairs or bristles on their toes called "setae."

These setae are the sole reason for the gecko's ability to attach to surfaces and remain agile.

The bristles branch out further into hundreds of even smaller hairs called "spatula."

Geckos exploit a property in chemistry called the van der Waals force to cling to and run on vertical surfaces. The van der Waals force makes electrons from the molecules on the surface of the wall interact with electrons of the molecules in the gecko's hair.

This interaction forces the setae to stick to a wall.

There are a number of interesting technologies that take advantage of this fact. Two such technologies include the development of handheld paddles that let individuals climb walls and a treatment for closing cuts and lacerations without the need of stitches.

For the last 10 years, scientists have been studying hairs on the gecko's feet to create artificial adhesives with minute fibers that mimic the gecko's unique ability to stick to surfaces.

TagsScience, scientific research, Bioinspiration and Biomimetics, Biology, Gecko, Animals