The Challenges of Biological Materials

Abstract

The challenges of biological materials and systems-the inherent complexity-is a result of the diversity of Nature itself. The evolution of structure in biological materials is guided by the ever-changing requirements of the external environment and have resulted in materials with desirable engineering properties, such as high strength, toughness, adaptability, flaw tolerance, self-healing, mutability and multifunctionality, all with a limited set of-and frequently inferiorbuilding materials. As a result of such constraints, Nature implements a flexible material composed of a limited set of molecular components: soft, deformable, highly convoluted proteins, composed of a minute set of amino acids. Providing a common base, protein form and function has evolved intimately, such that even the prediction of folded structure from a known peptide sequence is a technological challenge. Potential functionality is extended through the use of structural hierarchies-resulting in system robustness, efficiency, and design tolerance-while decreasing the efficacy of any single-scale analysis. At the microscale, the complexity manifests as functional, growing, adaptable materials-producing "shaky" platforms for tissue engineering and growth. While biological and chemical cues may change across scales, mechanical insights can provide a common basis regardless of scale or analytical progression.Look deep into Nature, and then you will understand everything better.Albert Einstein (1879Einstein ( -1955