Biological application of minerals

Structures of Biological Minerals in Dental Research

Structural features of some calcium phosphates of biological interest are described. Structure of hydroxyapatite (OHAp), considered as the prototype for the inorganic component of bones and teeth is discussed with respect to the kinds and locations of ionic substitutions. Octacalcium phosphate (OCP), is a probable precursor in biological mineralization. OCP has a layer type structure, with one ...

Nature of Biological Minerals and Diagenesis

Sta ble light iso tope ra tios (C/C and O/O) in fos sil teeth pro vide key ar chives for un der stand ing ecol ogy of past fau nal com mu ni ties and the evo lu tion of en vi ron ments dur ing the Plio-Pleis to cene. Given the in ev i ta ble pro cesses of diagenesis dur ing fos sili sa tion, the in teg rity of iso to pic in for ma tion and the de gree of de tailed in for ma tion that can be ex ...

In vitro studies on biological effects of fibrous minerals.

Asbestos substitutes have been used recently in industrial various applications. Since certain asbestos substitutes have similar characteristics of asbestos, they require urgent in vitro and in vivo evaluation of these asbestos substitutes prior to occupational applications. Though in vitro studies do not offer precise assessment of toxicity of the fibers, it is possible to provide useful infor...

Nano-FTIR chemical mapping of minerals in biological materials

Methods for imaging of nanocomposites based on X-ray, electron, tunneling or force microscopy provide information about the shapes of nanoparticles; however, all of these methods fail on chemical recognition. Neither do they allow local identification of mineral type. We demonstrate that infrared near-field microscopy solves these requirements at 20 nm spatial resolution, highlighting, in its f...

Forces between Minerals and Biological Surfaces in Aqueous Solution