Congratulations to Dr. Marc McKee for receiving an operating grant from the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad in Spain of $50,000 per year for the next three years for research project “Mechanisms controlling eggshell biomineralization”. Funding from this awarded grant will be used to study fundamental mechanisms of mineralization in avian eggshells. Studying eggshells sheds light on general principles of biomineralization that apply across all mineralized tissues. The McKee research lab studies not only mineralization mechanisms in bones and teeth, but also fundamental mineralization processes in eggshells which form calcium carbonate mineral, the mineral phase of seashells, eggshells and otoconia. Otoconia are mineral crystals in our inner ears that provide for balance, sensing gravity and linear acceleration, loss of which causes vertigo and falls primarily in the elderly. Findings from this eggshell work will provide new information on how biominerals form and function. A. Rodriguez-Navarro, M. Hincke, J. Gautron and M.D. McKee: Mechanisms controlling eggshell biomineralization Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spain, Operating Grant $50,000 per year, for 3 years.
