Extreme Biomineralization

Extreme biomineralization must have originated after the first ancestral unicellular organism appeared under the harsh environmental conditions of ancient oceans. Both biologically induced and biologically controlled mineralization promoted development of structural constructs that protect a cell from thermal, chemical, and UV-radiation stress. Such conditions also allowed adaptation of unique extremophilic and polyextremophilic biomineralizers, which are still found today. We review here for the first time Extreme Biomineralization as novel scientific direction that includes psychrophilic, thermophilic, anaerobic, alkaliphilic, acidophilic, and halophilic conditions, as well as Forced Biomineralization that arises in environments with very high and up to toxic concentration of metal ions. Although the mechanisms of these special biomineralogical phenomena in most cases remain unknown, Extreme Biomineralization provides crucial information for progress in Extreme Biomimetics. This vibrant area of modern research deals with creation of the next generation of composites using organic-templating approaches under biologically extreme laboratory conditions.

Bio:

Hermann Ehrlich (1957) holds a Heisenberg full professor position at the Institute of Experimental Physics at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg. His research is focused on biominerals, biomaterials, biocomposites and biomimetics. Using biochemical, cellular, molecular, and analytical approaches, he and his co-workers, for the first time, discovered and characterized chitin and novel hydroxylated collagen in the skeletal formations of marine sponges. During last ten years, he has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles, ten book chapters, two monographs and additionally holds four patents.