Scientists in Bradford have produced a 'wonder gel' which is expected to have a massive impact on the environmental, medical and industrial worlds.

The unique hydrogel, which is being patented by the University of Bradford's School of Pharmacy, can do everything from soaking up oil pollution to transporting medicines around the body and even growing new skin cells.

Dr Donald Eagland and Dr Nicholas Crowther - the team behind the substance - revealed it is made almost entirely of water yet can thicken to produce a material 100 to 1,000 times stronger than any gel of its kind.

Dr Eagland predicted: "We think it has a very strong environmental value and is going to be extremely useful as a drug delivery system."

A liquid form of the gel can be sprayed onto oil spillages and, as it thickens, can be rolled up like a carpet. Dr Eagland said the oil can then be removed safely from the gel.

The team believe it also has great significance for the agricultural world because it is a perfect carrier of tiny particles of herbicide. And because it is a long-lasting substance, the gel can help transport drugs around the body as when arthritic joints are injected with collagen.

The gel is composed of two long elastic-type molecules which form strong bonds with each other to form a three-dimensional network, similar to a cage, which holds in the water.

Now the team, along with the school's Dr Stephen Britland, are starting work on a project to use the gel in the process of growing skin cells, which would be perfect for laying onto the surface of large burns.

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