ABSTRACT
Biomineralization is the process where organisms form minerals. Mineralized skeletons of animals and plants derive their exceptional material properties from the extremely small size of the crystals comprising these nanostructures. Understanding biomineralization, with the potential of forming new nanomaterials via entirely new processes, is extremely attractive because, to date, synthetic processes process have been limited in the ability to reproduce the remarkable properties of mineralized skeletons. Minerals are generally studied by geoscientists and specifically by mineralogists. The processes responsible for mineral formation, in association with life, differ in certain aspects, and to varying degrees, from the processes we understand that control the formation of minerals in the typical geologic and synthetic synthesis realms. Mineralogists are beginning to appreciate that most mineralization processes at low temperatures occur in the presence of some biological effect. Materials scientists are just beginning to appreciate how study of low-temperature mineralization, modulated by biological effects, may lead to breakthroughs in nanotechnology. While the descriptive study of “calcified tissues” by biologists, biochemists, chemists, and medical researchers has a long history, the application of fundamental principles from basic mineralogy is just emerging.
