A team of experts in mechanics, materials science, and tissue engineering at Harvard has created an extremely stretchy and tough gel that may pave the way to replacing damaged cartilage in human joints. Called a hydrogel, because its main ingredient is water, the new material is a hybrid of two weak gels that combine to create something much stronger. Not only can this new gel stretch to 21 times its original length, but it is also exceptionally tough, self-healing, and biocompatible -- a valuable collection of attributes that opens up new opportunities in medicine and tissue engineering.
