The technique has been demonstrated using inorganic crystals, but organic polymers are easier to work with and much less expensive than crystals.

Several successful attempts are reported to incorporate other materials, such as inorganic crystals, inside the capsid.

Cairns-Smith believes that the original life on this planet was based on self-replicating inorganic crystals such as silicates.

"The morphology of inorganic crystals can mimic the morphology of organic growth and appear to be similar."

Just as with proteins, it has been possible to determine the atomic structures of inorganic crystals by electron crystallography.

The earliest structures were simple inorganic crystals and minerals, but even these revealed fundamental laws of physics and chemistry.

The reduction in light output is stronger for organics than for inorganic crystals.

The following is a list of commonly used inorganic crystals:

Topography is "classically" applied to inorganic crystals, such a metals and semiconductors.

The material for the crystals is usually a wide band gap inorganic crystal, or in some cases a suitable organic polymer.