A primitive fish from the bottom of the ocean, dating back around 500 million years, has been found to contain a unique type of slime.
The substance has been found inside the hagfish and contains unusual properties that cause it to expand into super strong but very thin fibres when the fish let it out into the seawater.
The BBC reported how scientists have dried the slime out to make a silky but strong material.
They are now trying to come up with ideas for using the material and so far suggestions have included tights, breathable athletic wear and bullet-proof vests.
The bullet-proof vests seem like a legitimate use, but tights? These fish have survived for millions of years at the bottom of the ocean, surely we can find a more worthwhile use for their slime.
The BBC quoted Tim Winegard, a researcher at the University of Guelph in Canada, as saying: “These guys have been around through just about everything.
“They’re a winner in terms of outlasting dinosaurs and many, many mass extinctions.”
Douglas Fudge, who heads the Guelph research project into the hagfish slime, said: “We know very little about hagfish reproduction, and no-one has ever gotten hagfish to breed in captivity – amazing as that sounds.
“Right now, we literally couldn’t have hagfish farms the way we have cows or chickens, or any other domesticated animals in captivity.”
If that’s the case, let’s just make sure we leave plenty of them at the bottom of the ocean where they belong. There’s nothing wrong with improving science and making new discoveries, as long as we can try to look after nature at the same time. We certainly don’t want these fish to face extinction now.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21954779