Understanding biomineralization processes provides a route to the formation of novel biomimetic materials with potential applications in fields from medicine to materials engineering. The teeth of chitons (marine molluscs) represent an excellent example of a composite biomineralized structure, comprising variable layers of iron oxide, iron oxyhydroxide and apatite. Previous studies of fully min...

In humans, the thymus is the primary lymphoid organ able to support the development of T cells through its three-dimensional (3D) organization of the thymic stromal cells. Since a remarkable number of similarities are shared between the thymic epithelial cells (TECs) and skin-derived keratinocytes and fibroblasts, in this study we used human keratinocytes seeded with fibroblasts on the 3D poly ...

A novel heparin- and cellulose-based biocomposite is fabricated by exploiting the enhanced dissolution of polysaccharides in room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs). This represents the first reported example of using a new class of solvents, RTILs, to fabricate blood-compatible biomaterials. Using this approach, it is possible to fabricate the biomaterials in any form, such as films or membrane...

In the EU, sheep bred for dairy and meat purposes are of low quality, their economic value is not even enough to cover shearing costs, wool generally seen as a useless by-product farming, resulting in large illegal disposal or landfilling. order minimize environmental health-related problems considering elemental compositions discarded materials such waste wool, there need recycle reuse develop...

A hydrophobic biocomposite (HBC) has been developed using a waste wood residue for circumventing oil spill issues. The ease of removal, regeneration and recyclability is demonstrated.