The 15th International Symposium on Biomineralization "Biomin XV" was held in Munich from September 9 to 13th.
Participants numbering 216 from 29 countries and 8 guest speakers were present to discuss recent advances in the field of biomineralization, a biological process that leads to the formation of minerals in living organisms such as teeth, bones, shells of molluscs or the skeletons of corals. Specialists from many fields were brought together, ranging from biology, human health and the environment to chemistry, physics and materials science. Three researchers from the coral physiology team at the CSM, Drs A. Venn, P. Ganot and D. Sevilgen were present with the Team Director, Dr. S. Tambutté. As a reminder, the CSM had organised the 7th edition of this congress in Monaco.
Dr. S. Tambutté was one of the invited speakers, gave a plenary conference summarizing the many studies carried out at the CSM over the past 20 years on the formation of coral skeletons. The conference opened a session entitled "From coral to biological techniques to study biomineralization". The presentations by members of the CSM team showing the techniques and approaches they have developed generated great interest and many questions. Fruitful discussions followed the presentations and opened doors to new international collaborations that will enable innovative projects to be set up in the future. In particular, the stages of formation of the first crystals are the subject of much debate, a major question being the level of control exercised by the animal over these stages. Following the conference, the CSM returned to their laboratory in Monaco with exciting new questions and experimental ideas.
For more information, please contact: