Feature

Boring Gribbles

By 2010-05-01T16:03:00

Wooden legs of a pier

Source: Webnovo/Shutterstock

Scientists may have found a way to stop gribbles boring into seaside piers

Small sea crustaceans – limnoriides or gribbles – have been munching their way through ship hulls and sea-side piers for centuries, wrecking havoc as they bore through the wooden structures. By studying the way the gribbles digest the wood, however, scientists at the UK’s Sustainable Bioenergy Centre at the Universities of York and Plymouth are hoping to find an energy-efficient route to biofuel production.

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