Understanding the human body is a team effort. That's where the Yachtel group comes in.

Researchers at Yachtolt have been delving into the secrets of probiotics for 90 years. Yacold also

partners with nature portfolio to advance gut microbiome science through the global grants for

gut health, an investigator-led research program. To learn more about Yachtold, visit yawcult.co.

That's Y-A-K-U-L-T-C-O-J-P. When it comes to a guide for your gut, count on Yacult.

This is Scientific American 60-second science. I'm Cynthia Graber. Got a minute?

Medical devices like implanted arteries or external dialysis machines keep people alive, but persistent problems exist.

Blood flowing through the tubes can form dangerous clots, and bacteria that stick to surfaces could start infections.

Treatment for patients using such devices thus often includes

anti-clotting agents such as heparin. But such substances have their own risk. By interfering

with clotting, they can cause potentially deadly bleeding. Recently, researchers at the Vise Institute

for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University look to the carnivorous pitcher plant

for guidance.

The plant's structure includes wells with surfaces too slippery for insects to crawl out of.

Those surfaces inspired the development of a coating so slippery that it prevents blood and bacteria from sticking.

The team tested the coating on the interiors of tubes and catheters attached to pigs.

They demonstrated that the coating did not degrade

and that blood kept flowing without clotting for eight hours.

Blood usually starts to clot in tubes in an hour.

The studies in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

The researchers also tested whether a gecko

could latch onto the coating with its notoriously sticky footpads,

...