A coating for medical implants such as artificial heart valves could prevent blood-clot formation — a common problem in which blood cells and proteins stick to the surfaces of such devices.

To make the surfaces less sticky, Donald Ingber of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, and his team adapted technology inspired by the carnivorous pitcher plant, which has a slick layer of water that causes insects to slide into the plant's 'mouth'.

The authors designed a two-layer coating: the first layer uses a perfluorocarbon to bind to smooth surfaces, and the second is a slippery film of medical-grade liquid perfluorocarbon. Tubing coated with this material had a lower build-up of clots and microorganisms than uncoated tubing when implanted in pigs. The material could reduce the need for anti-clotting drugs, which can cause bleeding.

Nature Biotechnol. http://doi.org/v9j (2014)