Marine Biomaterials

Until today, autogenic bone grafts from various donor regions represent the gold standard in the field of bone reconstruction, providing both osteoinductive and osteoconductive characteristics. However, due to low availability and a disequilibrium between supply and demand, the risk of disease transfer and morbidity, usually associated with autogeneic bone grafts, the development of biomimic materials with structural and chemical properties similar to those of natural bone as not not been fully achieved and remains the core of many world-wide research. Biosilica is marine derived natural occuring biopolymer formed enzymatically under physiological-relevant conditions (temperature and pH) via silicatein (silica protein), an enzyme isolated from siliceous marine sponges. A novel functional implant - bifunctional 2-component implant - that aim to exploit the advantages of biosilica biopolymer was developed and tested both in vivo and in vitro. This bifunctional 2-component implant highly qualifies this marine derived biomaterial for regenerative medicine applications as a potential silica-based bone replacement/substitution material inspired in biomineralization processes.