The material, so thin it effectively has just two dimensions, was first isolated by two Russian-born scientists, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, at the University of Manchester, work that earned them a Nobel Prize and knighthoods.

BBC: Europe gives 2bn euros to science

Two groups of researchers, one led by Andre Geim at Manchester University and the other by Ron Fearing at the University of California, Berkeley, have independently developed ways to copy the gecko's ability to cling to walls.

ECONOMIST: REPORTS

Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, of the University of Manchester, made graphene in 2004 using what may be the simplest experiment ever to win a Nobel prize: they peeled it off the surface of a piece of graphite using sticky tape.

ECONOMIST: The 2010 Nobel prizes

That person is Andre Geim.

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