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A new study led by the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) shows that a single biomaterial can be locally “programmed” to be rigid in some areas and flexible in others, mimicking a strategy long used by insects and other arthropods. As a proof of concept, described in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A, the researchers built articulated structures combining rigid segments and flexible joints to enable controlled movement within a single continuous sheet. Inspired by how nature builds complex structures from a single material, the approach could simplify both manufacturing and recycling. Locally tuning one biodegradable material with trace amounts of metals avoids producing different materials for different functions and could allow the whole object to be recycled or composted together, eliminating the sorting and separate recovery that multi-material products require.