Date:3/15/2013

an amorphous calcium carbonate intermediate and silicatein and subsequently aged to the final crystalline material. After six months, the synthetic spicules consisted of calcite nanocrystals aligned in a brick wall fashion with the protein embedded like cement in the boundaries between the calcite nanocrystals. The spicules were of 10 to 300 micrometers in length with a diameter of 5 to 10 micrometers.

As the scientists, among them chemists, polymer researchers, and the molecular biologist Professor Werner E. G. Mller from the Mainz University Medical Center, also write in their Science publication, the synthetic spicules have yet another special characteristic, i.e., they are able to transmit light waves even when they are bent.

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Contact: Wolfgang Tremel tremel@uni-mainz.de 49-613-139-25135 Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz Source:Eurekalert

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