The Glass Menagerie: diatoms for novel applications in nanotechnology.

Diatoms are unicellular, eukaryotic, photosynthetic algae that are found in aquatic environments. Diatoms have enormous ecological importance on this planet and display a diversity of patterns and structures at the nano- to millimetre scale. Diatom nanotechnology, a new interdisciplinary area, has spawned collaborations in biology, biochemistry, biotechnology, physics, chemistry, material science and engineering. We survey diatom nanotechnology since 2005, emphasizing recent advances in diatom biomineralization, biophotonics, photoluminescence, microfluidics, compustat domestication, multiscale porosity, silica sequestering of proteins, detection of trace gases, controlled drug delivery and computer design. Diatoms might become the first organisms for which the gap in our knowledge of the relationship between genotype and phenotype is closed.

Crystal palaces--diatoms for engineers.

A survey of diatom research from the mid-19th century to modern times shows that it has always been closely linked to technological (especially: imaging) progress. Perfection of the light-microscope led to a plethora of studies which--whilst being mostly of a descriptive nature--furnished a solid basis for informative practical applications in biostratigraphy and ecology, for instance. When the electron-microscope (transmission- and scanning-) was invented, diatoms belonged to the very first objects examined and this led to attempts at a more profound structural, functional and morphogenetic interpretation of these fascinating natural Crystal Palaces.