Biological Adhesive Systems (PDF)

Dr. Dipl.-Biol. Janek von Byern:

While he was studying at the Johann W. Goethe University in Frankfurt/Main and during several research stays at the private marine research station IFMB in Giglio, Italy, cephalopods and their complexity (flexibility, color adaptation, and intelligence) aroused Janek von Byern's interest. With his diploma thesis he focused on the pharmacology and histology of the blood circulation system in Sepia officinalis.

Inspired by Uwe Piatkowski from the IFM-GEOMAR  institute he began to consider the abstract thought that cephalopods could also produce glue. During further marine research stays he met Prof. Dr. J. Ott from the Department of Marine Biology of the University of Vienna and finally moved in 2003 to their Core Cell Imaging and Ultrastructure research facility.

In his PhD he characterized the adhesive system of the pygmy squid Idiosepius and started to analyze the glue components biochemically. Sampling led him to South Africa, Mozambique, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan and Australia where he collected different species, which raised new knowledge of other glue-producing animals and their attachment behavior.

Dr. Dipl.-Biol. Ingo Grunwald:

is a research associate and project manager in the "Biomolecular Surfaces and Materials Design" work group at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials (IFAM) in Bremen, Germany. The Fraunhofer IFAM is the largest independent research organization in Europe in the area of industrial adhesive bonding technology. Ingo Grunwald's work at the Fraunhofer IFAM focuses on biomimetic materials and biofunctionalized surfaces. He studied biology at University of Hanover (Germany), with biochemistry and molecular biology being his main areas of interest. His Ph.D. work concerned the purification, characterization, and molecular cloning of a new sugar-binding protein. Research time spent at Cancer Research UK and at the TECHNION in