Intracellular photonic crystals in photosynthetic sea slugs form via a kidney-mediated biomineralisation pathway
Samuel A. Humphrey, Xianglian He, Émeline Raguin, Johannes S. Haataja, Tobias Priemel, Clemens N. Z. Schmitt, Juliet A. Brodie, Heather F. Greer, Daniel Wangpraseurt, Lloyd Nelmes, Peter Fratzl, Bruno Jesus, Yu Ogawa, Silvia Vignolini
The paper identifies a novel biomineralisation pathway in photosynthetic sea slugs that produces intracellular photonic crystals via the kidney, resulting in bright colored regions.
bioRxiv · May 8, 2026 · PreprintBiophysics