The tiny fibers that comprise blood clots show extraordinary
elasticity, on average stretching to almost three times their
length while still retaining their ability to go back to their
normal shape and expanding to more than four times their length
before breaking, according to findings published in the journal
Science this week by researchers at Wake Forest University. This
discovery, which makes these fibrin fibers the most stretchable
known fibers existing in nature, will help medical researchers
create more accurate blood clot models, provide new insights
into the wound healing process and offer a deeper understanding
of heart attacks and strokes. Researchers from Wake Forest's
physics department and Wake Forest University School of Medicine
worked closely with researchers from the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill on this project. "For all naturally
occurring fibers, fibrin fibers are the ones you can stretch the
furthest before they break," said Martin Guthold, assistant
professor of physics