[Because] the crystal exists as an equilibrium system, it must be permeated by surfaces of zero stress of the entire electromagnetic field. ... [which] implies the emergence of quantum mechanics as a consequence of minimal surfaces, a necessary Pythagorean imperative that effects the bridge between geometry and arithmetic, discrete and continuum, the particle and field points of view. --S. Hyde, et al., The Language of Shape. The Role of Curvature in Condensed Matter: Physics, Chemistry and Biology. 1997.
Cell membranes in living organisms such as the endoplasmic reticulum (where all proteins and lipids are synthesized) are known to have a complex three-dimensonal morphology, which corresponds to TPMS. --Paul J.F. Gandy and Jacek Klinowski, Chemical Physics Letters 321.
