adhesion

It said low adhesion would be an area of ongoing investigation.

He says: “You have a steel wheel on a steel rail and anything that causes low adhesion can be a big problem.”

The researchers' fruit fly model integrates the numerous signals that orchestrate cell movement, contraction, adhesion and proliferation.

The scientists also tested the effects of inhibiting contractility and cell adhesion and analysed the mechanical signature of embryonic cells with defective contractility.

Writing last month in the scientific journal National Science Review, the team details their breakthrough in adhesion by designing the shape-memory polymer material in the shape of hair-like fibrils.