Derk Joester

My group is driven by the desire to understand not only the design, i.e. the structure and functional organization of biominerals, but also their integrated synthesis. On a cellular level, these two, design and its execution, are inextricably linked. Our highly interdisciplinary approach reflects this complexity and rests on both the engineering of biomaterials synthesis in cell culture and the biologically inspired in vitro synthetic (re)construction of artificial mineralizing systems. In this way, we hope to find ways to create new materials of functional and architectural sophistication that rival that of biominerals.