The biomaterials area, in particular, encapsulates new linkages. The parallel worlds of physics and biology are on a fortuitous collision course-indeed, they've already met. We are sure to reap greater things from this union than from either world in isolation. As we know, by looking at biological substances as materials, certain principles begin to emerge. Almost all biologically produced materials are composites.
Life creates structures with different-length scales.
And it uses templates to control its processes with a precision unknown in synthetic production. We do know we have not yet discovered the ideal materials to repair the human body. Medical devices have been designed up to now using the substances at hand. An interdisciplinary approach might instead target new materials specifically for biological systems. The blending of physical, chemical, and biological approaches opens up new vistas on sensors for diagnosis, selective membranes, even the manufacture of tissues.