Abstract
Current strategies for bone repair have accepted limitations and the search for synthetic graft materials or for scaffolds that will support ex vivo bone tissue engineering continues. Bioprospecting has led to increased interest in potential applications for marine organisms and their by-products and biomimetic strategies have led to the investigation of naturally occurring porous structures as templates for bone growth. As a rich source of mineralising porous organisms, our seas and oceans could provide new directions for bone tissue engineering that may enhance in vivo and ex vivo bone formation.
