Abstract
Some 600 million years ago, biological evolution altered the genes of mollusks in a way that enabled them to incorporate calcium carbonate in the form of its mineral calcite. The shells of the mollusks provided an effective protection of the delicate soft body of the organism. The merging of organic and inorganic compounds was a big achievement in evolution. About 40 different inorganic compounds in the form of many different minerals were incorporated in organisms of almost all phyla. Biomineralization was introduced by Heinz Lowenstam as a new research field. The book by Lowenstam and Weinert “On Biomineralization” published in 1989 is still a top reference book. At present the mechanisms of genetic and molecular control of biomineralization are in the center of interest.
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Engel, J. (2017). Introduction. In: A Critical Survey of Biomineralization. SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47711-4_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47711-4_1
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