If Prof Angela Belcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology gets it right, the future of manufacturing will rest on the shoulders of tiny organisms.
Although she's probably told the story a thousand times, Prof Belcher still talks with reverence about the shell she cradles in her hand.
The humble abalone, a slimy sea snail that occasionally ends up as someone's dinner, pulls calcium and carbon from sea water and transforms them into a durable, protective shell. Crusty and dingy on one side, shimmery and alluring on the other, this body armour is 3,000 times stronger than chalk, which is its chemical equivalent.
Abalone shells have inspired Prof Belcher's work for more than two decades and brought her to the pinnacle of science.
And they have implications for the future of manufacturing, green energy, medicine and science - just for starters.
They're also the way to green warfare. To read the rest of the article, click here.