Scientists are reportedly attempting to create a synthetic alternative to rubber based on a combination of ruthenium and the material that enables fleas to jump vast distances.

Resilin is a protein molecule that is found in a number of species of insects, including in the wings of flying insects.

Fruitflies beat their wings up to 500 million times during the course of their short lives and resilin in winged insects bonds the wings to the body, taking most of the strain of flight.

Chris Elvin, a biochemist at CSIRO Livestock Industries in St Lucia, Australia, who led the research, told Nature magazine: "Resilin is much more resilient than any other rubber around."

The Australian research team managed to isolate a portion of the resilin gene from the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster, and inserted it into Escherichia coli bacteria to create the protein pro-resilin, a precursor to the resilin molecule.

The scientists then mixed pro-resilin with a ruthenium catalyst to create units of the amino acid tyrosine within the molecules, which reportedly mimic the behaviour of resilin.

Roderic Lakes, a materials scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, told the magazine: "Resilin has remarkable properties and its ability to withstand repeated flexing could be very valuable."

The researchers claim that the breakthrough could provide a flexible, durable, resilient material for medical implants, such as spinal discs. The team is now investigating the behaviour of the synthetic resilin in the bodies of animals.


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