The World’s Thinnest Spaghetti Is Too Small to See - But Big Enough to Change Healthcare

We’ve all marveled at ultra-thin pasta like angel hair or the legendary su filindeu, the rarest and finest pasta in the world. But what if I told you there’s now a spaghetti so thin that it’s completely invisible to the naked eye? Enter nanospaghetti—a mind-blowing scientific discovery that’s not only redefining pasta but also shaping the future of medicine.

Spaghetti That’s 1,000 Times Smaller Than the Thinnest Pasta

Su filindeu has been around for over 300 years, made only by a handful of people in Sardinia, Italy. Its name means "threads of God," and at just 440,000 nanometers wide, it’s half the width of angel hair pasta. But scientists have now created something even thinner—nanospaghetti.

Measuring a mere 372 nanometers across, nanospaghetti is 1,000 times smaller than su filindeu and 200 times thinner than a human hair. You’d never spot it on your dinner plate, but don’t worry—it wasn’t made for eating. Instead, this microscopic marvel is set to revolutionize healthcare.

Accidental Pasta: A Discovery With a Purpose

Created by chemists at University College London (UCL), nanospaghetti was never meant to be food. Researchers were experimenting with nanofibers for medical use when they stumbled upon this pasta-like structure. Turns out, nanospaghetti is porous enough to let water pass through while blocking bacteria, making it perfect for wound healing, bone regeneration, and delivering medicine inside the body.

How Do You Make Pasta This Small? With Electricity.

Unlike traditional spaghetti, which is pushed through a metal die with brute force, nanospaghetti is made using electrospinning. Here’s how it works:

1. A mixture of flour and formic acid is loaded into a hollow needle.

2. An electric current pushes the mixture through the needle, breaking down the starch’s structure.

3. As the nanofibers land on a metal plate, they dry almost instantly, forming a delicate, paper-thin mat.

Because it’s made from natural starch, nanospaghetti is biodegradable, sustainable, and easy to produce—making it a game-changer in medical treatments.

The Future of Nanospaghetti

While you won’t be twirling nanospaghetti around your fork anytime soon, this microscopic pasta could be the future of eco-friendly wound care. Imagine bandages made from ultra-thin, natural fibers that help wounds heal faster while keeping bacteria out.

From ancient Sardinian traditions to cutting-edge science, pasta continues to surprise us. Who knew something as simple as spaghetti could take on an entirely new life—one too small for us to see, but big enough to change the world?