Main description:

This first textbook dedicated to the topic, written by a pioneer in the field, explains the principles of Nature's bottom-up engineering of biological materials, such as tissues, teeth, muscles, bones and tendons. He adopts a didactic approach and content structure to reflect the design principles, introducing basic biological, chemical, physical and materials science concepts essential to the understanding of the relationship between structure, properties and function in biological materials. Chapters dedicated to the elementary physical interactions and molecular building blocks, from simple sugars to complex, folded protein structures, provide the knowledge base for such advanced topics as the self-assembly of biological materials, the tuning of their properties and their processing. Case studies on important biological materials illustrate questions such as "How do plants move?", "What limits muscle performance?", and "How does the gecko effect work?"

Contents:

WHAT IS BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS SCIENCE?
Introduction to the Field
Hierarchy: Understanding Adaptations at Different Length Scales, Bottom-Up Engineering and the Building Blocks
Multifunctionality as an Evolutionary Design Paradigm
ELEMENTARY PHYSICAL INTERACTIONS
Strong and Weak Interactions
Hydrogen Bonding
Hydrophobic/Hydrophilic Forces
Charge-Charge Interactions
Covalent Bonding/Coordination Complexes
MOLECULAR AND PRIMARY STRUCTURES: BUILDING BLOCKS
Synthesis and Processing of Proteins and Sugars, Chitin and Cellulose
Protein Side Groups and their Properties
SECONDARY => QUARTERNARY STRUCTURE
Protein Secondary Structure and Folding: alpha, beta, PPII, coiled coil
Ramachandran Plots
SELF-ASSEMBLY OF BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
Liquid Crystal
Coacervate
Actin, Collagen Fibrils, Virus, Polymerization Models, Microtubules
MATERIALS PROPERTIES AND BEHAVIOR
Mechanics
Optics
Adhesion
Multifunctionality
TUNING MATERIALS PROPERTIES/
POST-TRANSLATIONAL MODIFICATIONS AND PROCESSING
Crosslinking
Hidden Lengths
Interface Design
Porosity
Nanocomposite Design
Mineralization
BIOMIMETICS
CASE STUDIES
Why Does None not Break more Often?
Why is Cornea Transparent?
How Does a Plant Move?
How Do Mussels Stay Attached to Surfaces on the Wave-Swept Rocky Seashore?
How Does Nature Create Polymers as Hard as Mineral?
How Do Structural Colors Originate?
What Limits Muscle Performance?
How Does a Spider Web Stop an Insect Midflight?
Gecko and Lotus Effect