Abstract
We can easily find a hierarchically ordered nano-/micro-structure in nature such as plant tissues, microalgae,fungi, and so on. Their structures are often three-dimensional and never artificially fabricated even with advanced modeling device. Therefore, material scientists have started focusing on such biological structures as being potentially applied for fabrication process, i.e., biotemplating process. Since several examples have been reported in respect to the utilization of ferritin, tobacco mosaic virus, diatom, or plant fiber, and so on, the biotemplated products can now provide variety of structures and can range widely in size. Here, we introduce brief overview of the biotemplates and their future technological applications, especially based on the structure-specific functions.
