Sharklet CEO Mark Spiecker has discovered an amazing property of sharks’ skin – and he’s applying it to technology.
Sharklet technologies is dabbling in the field of “biomimicry”, an exploration of using nature as an inspiration for solving human problems. Shark skin, while it appears smooth, actually has a microscopic texture that renders it impervious to barnacles, algae, and unbelievably, many human bacteria. Spiecker has copied the pattern to make germ resistant surfaces for medical devices, keyboards, and everything in between.
Spiecker didn’t just decide to create this product out of the blue. Anthony Brennan, a science professor who was working on the problem of reducing barnacles and algae on Navy ships was at a conference and discussed with other researchers the question of why whales have barnacles and sharks don’t. Nobody knew the answer. One of his friends offered to catch a shark for him. Within a month, he had a mold of shark skin from a shark his friend had caught and released.
Brennan found out, in the lab, that sharks’ skin repelled algae. But it wasn’t until 5 years later, when a student tried to grow bacteria in a petri dish with the sharkskin pattern, Brennan found that it couldn’t be done. Bacteria simply would not grow on that surface.
Brennan took his discovery to form Sharklet Technologies. The idea was great, but the reality was difficult. They needed to create a pattern that had a texture of 3 millionths of a meter deep... and mass produce it. It took two years and a ton of discussion with manufacturers from medical devices to laser etchings. When Spieker finally found a company that could make sheets of the textured plastic, FLEXCon, and one that could make tools for molded parts with the texture, 10x Microstructures, they finally began to move forward.
Bacteria are always a cause for concern, especially in health settings. Staph infections in a hospital can be deadly. More and more bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics. To get from here to there, Sharklet will run the gauntlet of human medical trials. But until then they plan to manufacture non-medical products beginning next year.
Non-medical products could include desks for schools or shared spaces. This could markedly reduce the passing of germs in classrooms and offices. It will be appealing to many areas because it will reduce the exposure to bacteria without using chemicals. It will create a non-toxic barrier based on a naturally occurring phenomenon.
This is just one more way that nature, and sharks in particular, can help us shape our world. We won’t have to resort to harsh chemicals to resist and repel and protect from spreading diseases. A simple, very tiny, pattern based on the natural skin of a shark either applied to a surface or the tool or surface molded into the texture will provide the qualities we need to keep safe and healthy. And our barnacles… rather our bacteria… will have nothing to hold on to.
