ORNL microscopy yields first proof of ferroelectricity in simplest amino acid

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2012/04/19/ornl.microscopy.yields.first.proof.ferroelectricity.simplest.amino.acid

The boundary between electronics and biology is blurring with the first detection by researchers at Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory of ferroelectric properties in an amino acid called glycine. A multi-institutional research team led by Andrei Kholkin of the University of Aveiro, Portugal, used a combination of experiments and modeling to identify and explain the presence of ferroelectricity, a property where materials switch their polarization when an electric field is applied, in the simplest known amino acid -- glycine.