Researchers at the University of Tokyo have created a hydrogel that is more than 50 times stronger than comparable squishy self-healing materials. The hydrogel is made up of 95 percent water, making it suitable for applications in the body; it could someday serve as scaffolding for new tissue growth, or as a replacement for damaged cartilage.

The hydrogel is held together by relatively weak noncovalent bonds, but it displays remarkable durability because it contains a specially designed compound that the researchers call the "G binder." The resulting gel is soft enough to be injected into the body with a syringe, yet it is durable enough to bounce back from stress and heal itself. In preliminary tests, scientists found that it was able to work efficiently with biologically important molecules, including myoglobin.