It was shown first that solutions of nongelable polysaccharides, including such practically important ones as chitosan, hyaluronate, and cyclodextrin, can be gelled by generating silica in situ via sol-gel processing. This could be done owing to a novel silica precursor that is completely water-soluble and compatible with biopolymers. The gelation was caused by mineralization of carbohydrate macromolecules, which strengthened them and provided their cross-linking. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.