How porcupines are helping doctors design better needles

The rodent's barbed quills give researchers some unlikely inspiration

The tip of each Porcupine quill has roughly 800 microscopic barbs.
(Image credit: ThinkStock/Stockbyte)

Need to build better tools? Look no further than Mother Nature. Sharkskin gave Speedo the inspiration to design a more-streamlined swimsuit. And squirmy, snake-like machines are helping surgeons make fewer incisions when operating on patients. Now, to design a better needle, a team of bioengineers at the Center for Regenerative Therapeutics at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston are drawing inspiration from a somewhat unlikely, prickly critter: The North American porcupine. Here's what you should know about the project:

Why the porcupine?

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Chris Gayomali is the science and technology editor for TheWeek.com. Previously, he was a tech reporter at TIME. His work has also appeared in Men's Journal, Esquire, and The Atlantic, among other places. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.