Nacre Topography Produces Higher Crystallinity in Bone than Chemically Induced Osteogenesis

It is counterintuitive that invertebrate shells can induce bone formation, yet nacre, or mother of pearl, from marine shells is both osteoinductive and osteointegrative. Nacre is composed of aragonite (calcium carbonate) and induces production of vertebrate bone (calcium phosphate). Exploited by the Mayans for dental implants, this remarkable phenomenon has been confirmed in vitro and in vivo, yet the characteristic of nacre that induces bone...