Physicists have developed an oil-in-water solution, or “emulsion”, that mimics the behaviour of cell-to-cell adhesion in biological tissues.

Cell-to-cell adhesion is crucial to the integrity of tissue structure as cells must come together and stick in order to ensure tissue cohesion.

By varying the amount of force by which oil droplets were compressed, and the amount of salt added to this “emulsion”, the researchers were able to isolate the optimal conditions for cell-to-cell adhesion.

This research could help improve the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and the delivery of therapeutic molecules to the blood stream.