Gecko feet hold key to development of self-cleaning adhesives.
"How geckos manage to keep their feet clean while walking about with sticky feet has remained a puzzle until now," said Kellar Autumn, associate professor of biology at Lewis & Clark College. "Geckos don't groom their feet, and the adhesive on their toes is much too sticky for dirt to be shaken off. Conventional adhesives like tape just get dirtier and dirtier, but we discovered that gecko feet actually become cleaner with repeated use."