Biomineralization: A confluence of materials science, biophysics, proteomics, and evolutionary biology

Abstract

Biomineralization is the process by which living organisms orchestrate the synthesis and organization of minerals (biominerals), and it may be viewed as an ancient process for accumulation of metal ions in living systems. The structure and properties of biominerals have yet to be rivaled by any synthetic effort by scientists to date. Therefore, deciphering the assembly algorithms and the components that initiate and promote hierarchical deposition of cations has signifi cant implications for the development of nanocomposites and nanotechnology as a whole. This issue of MRS Bulletin highlights some of the challenges in characterizing and replicating the biomineralization processes, and the role of non-collagenous proteins in the biomineralization process.