Lessons from Biomineralization

Nature produces a wide variety of exquisite mineralized tissues fulfilling diverse functions, and often from simple inorganic salts. Organisms exercise a level of molecular control over the physico-chemical properties of inorganic crystals that is unparalleled in today's technology. This reflects directly or indirectly the controlling activity of biological organic surfaces that are involved in the formation of these materials. Biomineralization occurs within specific microenvironments, which implies stimulation of crystal formation at certain interfacial sites and relative inhibition of the process at all other sites. I will describe new crystallization and assembly strategies inspired by biomineralization mechanisms that made it possible to achieve a remarkable level of control over various aspects of the crystal nucleation and growth. including the precise localization of particles. nucleation density, crystal sizes, morphology, crystallographic orientation, arbitrary shapes, microstructure, stability and architecture.