Biomineralization-based biological shellization

Biomineralization has been evolved by many organisms to improve their survivals and performance in harsh environment, which demonstrate the importance of inorganic minerals in biological protections and functionalizations. Inspired by these natural phenomena, we proposed biomimetic surface modification and functionalization of organisms by using biomineralization. It followed a new concept of "biomimetic shellization engineering". Such a material-based strategy can confer living organisms new properties thorough artificial materials without significantly impairing their original functions. The studies have demonstrated that biomineralization holds great promises in materials, biological and medical areas. The methods of biomimetic shellization as well as its applications and perspectives are reviewed in this paper.