• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Thursday, October 30, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Biology

Recreating the chameleon: material mimics color changes of living organisms

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
June 27, 2018
in Biology
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram
IMAGE

Credit: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Researchers at Nagoya University develop a composite material that, by adjusting its composition and exposing it to different types of light, can mimic animals' changes in color.

Nagoya, Japan – A range of creatures, including chameleons, octopuses, and frogs, can change color in response to changes in the environment. Some insights into the mechanisms behind this at the anatomical, cellular, and molecular levels have been obtained. However, much work is still required to obtain sufficient understanding of this phenomenon and to translate it into useful artificial applications.

As reported in the journal Small, researchers at Nagoya University's Department of Molecular Design and Engineering developed a material containing dyes and crystals that can change the colors and patterns it displays depending on the background color used within it and its exposure to visible or ultraviolet light. You can see a video abstract on this at the website of this journal.

The team was inspired to develop this material by findings obtained in the skin of certain frogs, in which different layers of cells with different properties combine to enable remarkable color changes.

Each component of this novel material plays a key role in its color properties. For example, the dyes contribute their inherent colors to the material's appearance, which can be adjusted by mixing them to different extents. These dyes also include those that change color upon exposure to light.

Spherical crystals were also introduced into the system, which rather than influencing the color through their inherent pigmentation affect it through their microscopic structures that can directly interfere with light. Finally, a black pigment and different background colors were employed to alter the colors the other components of the system display.

"We examined the influences of the different components in the system, such as by changing the size of the crystals, switching the background from white to black, or performing exposure to visible or ultraviolet light," corresponding author Yukikazu Takeoka says. "We found these changes resulted in different colors being displayed across the material, resembling the way in which some organisms can change color in response to various factors in their environment."

"This is an exciting stage in this field of study, as we are increasingly able to adapt the color-changing mechanisms that some animals use to artificial devices," study first author Miki Sakai adds. "If these artificial color-changing materials can equal or surpass the vibrant displays that some animals such as octopuses and frogs make, it could have exciting applications in the development of new display technologies."

###

The article "Bioinspired Color Materials Combining Structural, Dye, and Background Colors" was published in Small at DOI: 10.1002/smll.201800817.

Media Contact

Koomi Sung
[email protected]
@NU__Research

http://www.nagoya-u.ac.jp/en/

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/smll.201800817

Share14Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

How Protein Binding to Fraying DNA Unlocks the Mystery Behind a Global Illness

How Protein Binding to Fraying DNA Unlocks the Mystery Behind a Global Illness

October 30, 2025
UC Riverside Scientist Honored by American Federation for Aging Research

UC Riverside Scientist Honored by American Federation for Aging Research

October 30, 2025

New Study Explores Crucial Hormone in Fertility Preservation for Women with Cancer

October 30, 2025

Prodrug Florfenicol Amine Targets Resistant Mycobacterium abscessus

October 30, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Sperm MicroRNAs: Crucial Mediators of Paternal Exercise Capacity Transmission

    1291 shares
    Share 516 Tweet 322
  • Stinkbug Leg Organ Hosts Symbiotic Fungi That Protect Eggs from Parasitic Wasps

    312 shares
    Share 125 Tweet 78
  • ESMO 2025: mRNA COVID Vaccines Enhance Efficacy of Cancer Immunotherapy

    201 shares
    Share 80 Tweet 50
  • New Study Suggests ALS and MS May Stem from Common Environmental Factor

    136 shares
    Share 54 Tweet 34

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

PRRFCT Match: Virtual Support for Young Children

How Protein Binding to Fraying DNA Unlocks the Mystery Behind a Global Illness

New Research Uncovers How Brain Cell Networks Enhance Memory Stability

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 67 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.