A tougher cement-like adhesive produced by oysters is hoped to show how to develop improved formulations for medical applications. Oysters, mussels and marine life generally offer adhesives researchers an appetising menu - but from a chemical rather than culinary viewpoint. Studies into mussel adhesive protein have been ongoing since the 1980s, and it's tempting to mistake that deep knowledge for a universal understanding how shellfish affix themselves. However Jonathan Wilker of Purdue University and his colleagues have now found that oysters attach themselves with a material that is closer to a cement than an adhesive, opening new vistas of bonding biomimicry that are set to help in medical applications.