National Institute of Standards and Technology researchers discovered that gecko’s feet are coated in an ultra-thin water-repelling film that enables them to climb almost any surface.

NIST scientists studied the structures on gecko’s feet and the coating, called setae, according to a July 6 release.

“A lot was already known about how setae work mechanically. Now we have a better understanding of how they work in terms of their molecular structure,” Cherno Jaye, NIST physicist, said, according to the release.

Physicist and co-author of the study Tobias Weidner, of Aarhus University in Denmark, said gecko’s feet might make closer contact with the surface because the ultra-thin film of water-repelling lipid molecules may function by pushing away water beneath the spatulae, the structures at the end of the setae. The spatulae make such close contact with the surface the gecko climbs that electrons in both materials interact. The water-repelling film helps to enable them to maintain a grip on wet surfaces, the release said.

“The most exciting thing for me about this biological system is that everything is perfectly optimized on every scale, from the macro to the micro to the molecular,” biologist and co-author Stanislav Gorb, of Kiel University in Germany, said, according to the release. “This can help biomimetic engineers know what to do next.”