Liquid Crystals in Biological Systems

Abstract

There are several good theoretical reasons why matter in the liquid crystalline state should play a part in the structure of living tissue. Many naturally-occurring substances exhibit paracrystalline behavior. The most complex and some of the most reactive forms, the so-called cholesteric, are mainly or exclusively of natural origin. No other formation of organic molecules possesses a comparable pattern of ordered structure in a state of flow. This is not to say that liquid crystals must, therefore, be involved in living processes. It simply means that theory would fit fact, if facts were available.