biomineralize

English

Etymology

bio- +‎ mineralize

Verb

biomineralize (third-person singular simple present biomineralizes, present participle biomineralizing, simple past and past participle biomineralized)

1. (biology) To mineralize within a biological organism; e.g. to form bone (in vertebrates) or silica skeleton (in diatoms).
   • 2011, Alexander Altenbach, Anoxia: Evidence for Eukaryote Survival and Paleontological Strategies:

     Instead, it seems more likely that this organism biomineralizes and arranges endogenous magnetite crystals in a highly controlled fashion within the cell where intracellular structural elements play a significant role in magnetosome, as has been shown for magnetotactic prokaryotes.

Related terms

• biomineralization