Metallo-oxide (MO)-based bioinorganic nanocomposites promise unique structures, physicochemical properties, and novel biochemical functionalities, and within the past decade, investment in research on materials such as ZnO, TiO 2 , SiO 2 , and GeO 2 has significantly increased. Besides traditional approaches, the synthesis, shaping, structural patterning, and postprocessing chemical functionalization of the materials surface is inspired by strategies which mimic processes in nature. Would such materials deliver new technologies? Answering this question requires the merging of historical knowledge and current research from different fields of science. Practically, we need an effective defragmentation of the research area. From our perspective, the superficial accounting of material properties, chemistry of the surfaces, and the behavior of biomolecules next to such surfaces is a problem. This is particularly of concern when we wish to bridge between technologies in vitro and biotechnologies in vivo. Further, besides the potential practical technological efficiency and advantages such materials might exhibit, we have to consider the wider long-term implications of material stability and toxicity. In this contribution, we present a critical review of recent advances in the chemistry and engineering of MO-based biocomposites, highlighting the role of interactions at the interface and the techniques by which these can be studied. At the end of the article, we outline the challenges which hamper progress in research and extrapolate to developing and promising directions including additive manufacturing and synthetic biology that could benefit from molecular level understanding of interactions occurring between inanimate (abiotic) and living (biotic) materials.

Over the past decade, significant progress has been made in the identification of novel material binding peptides having affinity to a wide range of target materials and their use in nanobiotechnological innovations. These material binding peptides (MBPs), also known as solid/ substance binding peptides (SBPs) can be isolated using combinatorial display technologies such as phage display (PD), surface display (cell, bacterial, yeast, mRNA) exhibit material specific selectivity and affinity towards a range of inorganic and organic nanomaterial surfaces including metals, metal oxides, minerals, semiconductors and biomolecules. MBPs serve as mediators in bringing nanotechnology and biotechnology under one umbrella by linking solid nanoparticles with biomolecules including proteins, bioactive peptide motifs, bifunctional binding peptides, enzymes, antigens and antibody fragments. As the utilization and application of these inorganic binding peptides as molecular connectors, molecular assemblers and material specific synthesizers in nanotechnology has been expanding rapidly, so too has growing commercial interest in patenting such innovations. In this review, we present the past, current and future developments and applications of inorganic MBPs specific to nanomaterials and their applications.