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Science 5 November 1999:
Vol. 286. no. 5442, pp. 1059 - 1061
DOI: 10.1126/science.286.5442.1059b
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News of the Week

BIOMATERIALS:
Reverse Engineering the Ceramic Art of Algae

Ivan Amato

No one knows how the glasslike silica laceworks within the cell walls of diatoms are formed, but on page 1129, biochemists report new clues--silica-forming proteins dubbed silaffins that, when added to solutions of silicic acid, a silicon-containing organic compound, precipitate to form networks of minuscule silica spheres. Besides helping to explain how diatoms transform dissolved silicon-containing molecules into sturdy solid particles, the finding is also a tantalizing clue for materials scientists attempting to build sophisticated materials at ambient pressures and temperatures.

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)