Page 122 - Visions of the Future Chemistry and Life Science

The secret of Nature’s microscopic patterns 111

that evolutionary change (in the form of speciation) could be relatively
rapid.
The evidence we offer above for the microarchitectural development
mechanisms occurring within spore walls serves to underline the signifi-
cance of colloids in biological construction and pattern formation. As we
have demonstrated, an understanding of colloidal mechanisms has the
potential to explain certain aspects of biological complexity. As a first
approximation to reality, our organic mimics have already revealed much
about the way in which spore walls form. Furthermore, they have begun
to indicate just how much of our ultimate structure is governed by the
ways in which our microscopic components interact.

6.4 Future applications of biocolloid self-assembly

Clearly the improved understanding of colloidal behaviour within living
systems that we are developing offers the eventual prospect of our being
able to manipulate such systems. The control of microarchitecture in both
living and synthetic systems has many potential applications. The most
important aspect is the ability to define the particular conditions under
which a certain pattern or structure will be formed such that the products
will be uniform. This clearly happens in Nature, but natural systems have
been subject to trial and error for considerably longer than any experiment
involving synthetic systems.
Natural materials, particularly compounds such as sporopollenin with
almost total resistance to digestion, could be used in the manufacture of
cosmetic and drug delivery capsules, and would be both safe and efficient.
Our studies of the colloidal construction of spore walls reveals how we
might design such capsules with a high degree of control over size, wall
thickness, solubility, and porosity leading to complete regulation of
dosage. Such capsules could be self-assembled in vast numbers, possibly
even around micelles containing the intended active content. As our
understanding of the interaction of plant genetics and colloidal construc-
tion mechanisms improves, we may eventually be able to manipulate
plants into producing both the required capsule and content.
Regulation of microarchitecture has applications in the production of
surface coatings. Again, control of the consistency of pattern offers the
prospect of the self-assembly of periodic surface features on a scale that
would interact with incident light. Paints could be designed to produce