PNNL

Abstract

Biomineralization, defined as the organized deposition of inorganic materials in the cellular or extracellular matrix, may be as simple a process as the formation of an iron oxide crystal in the vesicle of a magnetobacterium, or as complex a process as the formation of the intricate calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate structures found in marine coccoliths, invertebrate shells, vertebrate skeletons and teeth. The phenomenon of Biomineralization has attracted a great deal of attention recently from the materials science community, which seeks to understand the way in which inorganic biological composites are synthesized and processed in nature.