Integrating materials and life sciences toward the engineering of biomimetic materials

Research in the field of biological and biomimetic materials constitutes a case study of how traditional research boundaries are becoming increasingly obsolete. Positioned at the intersection of life and physical sciences, it is becoming more and more evident that future development in this area will require extensive interaction between materials and life scientists. To highlight this cross-talking, we provide a brief overview of the field, intended to illustrate how these disciplines can be integrated. We start with a short historical perspective, emphasizing the role of biologists in initiating early studies in the field. In the second part of the paper, a summary of important biochemical concepts and techniques relevant to biological materials is presented, with the goal of guiding nonspecialists towards the relevant techniques and knowledge required to investigate potential model systems. In the third part, we describe two case studies that emphasize the critical role of biosynthesis in understanding structure-function-property relationships in biological materials. We conclude with some remarks related to our own perception of how integration of materials and life sciences will lead to future developments in the field.