Molecules 10,000 times narrower than the width of a human hair could hold the key to building super-strong wooden skyscrapers in the future, new research has found.
Teams at the Universities of Warwick and Cambridge in England have unlocked the mystery of how key sugars in cells bind to form strong, indigestible materials.
The research explains how thick, rod-like cellulose and long, winding xylan – the Earth’s two most common large molecules – stick together to form strong plant walls despite being fundamentally different.
“We knew the answer must be elegant and simple,” said Professor Paul Dupree from the department of biochemistry at the University of Cambridge. “And in fact, it was.
“What we found was that cellulose induces xylan to untwist itself and straighten out, allowing it to attach itself to the cellulose molecule. It then acts as a kind of ‘glue’ that can protect cellulose or bind the molecules.”
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