Generating Helices in Nature

Abstract

Macroscopic helical structures formed by organisms include seashells, horns, plant tendrils, and seed pods (see the figure, panel A). The helices that form are chiral; like wood screws, they have a handedness. Some are helicoids, twisted helices with saddle-like curvature and a straight centerline; others are cylindrical helices with cylindrical curvature and a helical centerline. Studies of the mechanisms underlying the formation of helicoid or helical ribbons and of the transitions between these structures (1–4) have left an important question unanswered: How do the molecular organization of the material and its global geometrical features interact to create a diversity of helical shapes? On page 1726 of this issue, Armon et al. (5) explore the rich phenomenology associated with slender strips made of mutually opposing “molecular” layers, taking a singular botanical structure—the Bauhinia seed pod—as their inspiration. They show that a single component, namely a flat strip with a saddle-like intrinsic curvature, is sufficient to generate a wide variety of helical shapes.