Mastodawn

I've just dicovered this amazing website about tesselated materials in nature (thanks @gregeganSF 😊 🙏 )

https://tessellated-materials.mpikg.mpg.de/collection

A lot of pals at Glasgow did work in biomineralization. In 2017 there was a residency + exhibition with the artist Rachel Duckhouse, which I think was one of the best such things I've ever been involved with 😊 🤓 🤩.

Lots of beautiful stuff on Rachel's website here:

https://www.rachelduckhouse.co.uk/shell-meets-bone

#Geology #Mineralogy #Art #Biomineralization #Tesselation #ShellMeetsBone

Alexander Pohle Nov 8

New paper out on the formation mechanism of cameral deposits in orthoceratoid cephalopds! This topic has been debated for more than 150 years and we now finally have a satisfying solution 🥳

https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.70032

#palaeontology #cephalopods #orthoceratoids #Triassic #fossils #biomineralization

dominica at KillBait Oct 11

Study reveals gold nanoparticles in spruce needles linked to bacterial activity

How can the discovery of gold nanoparticles in Norway spruce needles by @aibot help improve gold exploration techniques near mines like Kittilä in Finland?

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Lukas VFN 🇪🇺Aug 27

Deep sea worm fights poison with poison to survive high #arsenic and sulfide levels https://phys.org/news/2025-08-deep-sea-worm-poison-survive.html

A #DeepSea worm detoxifies arsenic and sulfur by intracellular #biomineralization of orpiment (As2S3) https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3003291

"A hydrothermal vent worm survives the high levels of arsenic and sulfide in its environment by combining them to form a less hazardous mineral... #orpiment—the same toxic, golden mineral produced by this worm—was once prized by medieval and Renaissance painters"

PLOS Biology Aug 27

How does the alvinellid worm Paralvinella hessleri survive the toxic extremes of deep-sea #HydrothermalVents? A new study in #PLOSBiology shows that it detoxifies its environment by forming orpiment (As₂S₃) minerals inside epithelial cells; this unique #biomineralization reveals a novel adaptation to toxic environments.
https://plos.io/3HtVCZ6

A deep-sea hydrothermal vent worm detoxifies arsenic and sulfur by intracellular biomineralization of orpiment (As2S3)

The deep-sea worm Paralvinella hessleri thrives in extreme hydrothermal vents, tolerating high arsenic and hydrogen sulfide levels. This study shows that it detoxifies both by forming orpiment (As₂S₃) minerals inside epithelial cells; this unique biomineralization reveals a novel adaptation to toxic environments.

Furqan Shah Dec 16, 2024

🧪🔬🧬💠 Biomaterial design principles to accelerate #bone tissue #engineering

Dewey & Harley, 2022

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92014-2_3

#biomaterials #biomineralization #collagen #metals #autograft #tissueengineering #regenerativemedicine #implants #bioengineering #science #physics #biology #chemistry

Furqan Shah Nov 16, 2024

Biomineralization in #health and #disease: Bridging across length scales

Topical Collection; Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine

https://link.springer.com/journal/10856/updates/26478252

#nature #biomineralization #characterization #biological #pathological #calcification #bone #tooth #mineral #atherosclerosis #osteoarthritis #molecular #cellular #biology #chemistry #medicine #science

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine

SpringerLink

Furqan Shah Jun 22, 2024

If you were wondering how #dental #enamel resists years of damage and wear, the "enamel rods" are tightly packed, long structures composed of hydroxy(l)apatite nanowires. This highly organized pattern of enamel rods achieves exceptional durability and resistance to mechanical stress.

#science #biology #tooth #biomineralization #mineral #apatite #nano #medicine #health #biomaterials #electronmicroscopy #imaging

Emilia Jarochowska 🇺🇦🌱Jun 20, 2024

It's very satisfying to see the crown article of my first PhD student Bryan Shirley published! Skeleton is usually all that remains from an animal in the fossil record, so in order to find out how the animal functioned when alive, we have to squeeze out clues from the skeletal tissues, for example using advanced #ElectronMicroscopy 🔬. We were told that vertebrate tissues are too chemically unstable to study this way, but with the help of experts in microscopy, we were able to make rapid measurements of crystallography in the oldest #vertebrate hashtag#teeth to understand how they function evolved. Turns out the crystal orientation reflects the function! From the #ultrastructure we can estimate how the animals were biting and see their evolutionary adaptations at the level of individual crystals 💎 This was possible thanks to the facilities and funding by EXCITE network and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - German Research Foundation

Now published #OpenAccess at https://rdcu.be/dLpbD
#UtrechtUniversity #evolution #biomineralization #paleontology #paleobiology #conodonts

Furqan Shah Mar 28, 2024

🧪🔬🦴💠 50 years of scanning electron microscopy of bone—a comprehensive overview of the important discoveries made and insights gained into bone material properties in health, disease, and taphonomy

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41413-019-0053-z

#bone #biomineralization #biology #osteocyte #collagen #apatite #mineral #science #electronmicroscopy #microscopy #imaging #biomaterials

50 years of scanning electron microscopy of bone—a comprehensive overview of the important discoveries made and insights gained into bone material properties in health, disease, and taphonomy - Bone Research

Bone is an architecturally complex system that constantly undergoes structural and functional optimisation through renewal and repair. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) is among the most frequently used instruments for examining bone. It offers the key advantage of very high spatial resolution coupled with a large depth of field and wide field of view. Interactions between incident electrons and atoms on the sample surface generate backscattered electrons, secondary electrons, and various other signals including X-rays that relay compositional and topographical information. Through selective removal or preservation of specific tissue components (organic, inorganic, cellular, vascular), their individual contribution(s) to the overall functional competence can be elucidated. With few restrictions on sample geometry and a variety of applicable sample-processing routes, a given sample may be conveniently adapted for multiple analytical methods. While a conventional SEM operates at high vacuum conditions that demand clean, dry, and electrically conductive samples, non-conductive materials (e.g., bone) can be imaged without significant modification from the natural state using an environmental scanning electron microscope. This review highlights important insights gained into bone microstructure and pathophysiology, bone response to implanted biomaterials, elemental analysis, SEM in paleoarchaeology, 3D imaging using focused ion beam techniques, correlative microscopy and in situ experiments. The capacity to image seamlessly across multiple length scales within the meso-micro-nano-continuum, the SEM lends itself to many unique and diverse applications, which attest to the versatility and user-friendly nature of this instrument for studying bone. Significant technological developments are anticipated for analysing bone using the SEM.

Nature