Billions of piezoelectric sensors are produced every year, improving the efficiency of many current and emerging technologies. By interconverting electrical and mechanical energy they enable medical device, infrastructure, automotive and aerospace industries, but with a huge environmental cost. Amino acids are the most basic biological components, and they are cheap and simple to crystallize, with significant piezoelectricity in single crystal and polycrystal forms. However this response is highly anisotropic, and precise, orientated control over crystallisation is required to maximise the piezoelectric output of a crystalline amino acid device