中文摘要：

海绵是生长在海洋或淡水环境中的一种最简单的多细胞生物，3个主要海绵纲中有2个纲的海绵其主要骨架与支撑是玻璃纤维状的硅质骨针。近年来，人们发现了硅质海绵骨针独特的微结构及良好的光纤特性，特别是指出了这些特性给人类带来制造光纤的新思路，并很快引起了科学家对其结构、特性、生长机制与调控的生物学、生矿物学和仿生学的广泛研究兴趣。评述了海绵骨针内部结构和光学特性的发现、海绵骨针研究的热点领域及研究意义，并简要介绍了海绵骨针的国内外研究概况及主要工作。

英文摘要：

Sponges are one kind of the simplest multi-cellular organisms that live in both fresh-water and marine environment. Among the three classes of sponges, two of which produce silicified spicules as their body support. In recent years, peculiar micro-structure and high fiber-performance are found in sponge spicules. While the growth mechanisms of sponge spicules that live in ambient temperature and pressure was thought to be a new bionic way to produce optical-fiber. Therefore, these new discoveries have drawn increasing efforts worldwide to study the biology and biomineralization of sponge spicules and their bionic applications. Through studying the structure., the characteristic, the growth mechanism and mediation in sponge spicules, scientists are learning a new biotechnological route to produce electronic and optical nano-materials in an environmentally benign way. In this contribution, we review the major findings in the study of the micro-structure and optical performances in sponge spicules, and then discuss the progress and significance of studying sponge spicules.