FEBRUARY 1 2008
AMERICANWAY 51
physicians have studied nature for millen-
nia. (One of the common argumentsmade
by conservationists is that pharmaceutical
companies often find new drugs hidden in
the biology of plants that grow in threat-
enedplaces, like rain forests.)And in recent
decades, medical companies have grown
increasingly sophisticatedatmanufacturing
joints, bones, artificial skin, and even cells
that copy theirnatural counterparts.
But today’s biomimetics goes one step
further, using nature not only as a model
but also, as Benyus puts it, as a “measure
andmentor.” Faced with a problem— say,
how to remove blood from hospital linens
without using bleach— bionics specialists
might look at how different insects who
feed on blood (such as mosquitoes) man-
age to unhook the heme molecule, which
makesblood red.Then theywould try to re-
verse-engineer the chemistry of the insect’s
method. DaimlerChrysler’s Mercedes divi-
sionused a similar techniquewhen looking
for more-aerodynamic designs; ultimately,
they created a concept car based on the
body structureof aboxfish.
The most optimistic proponents of bio-
mimetics say that not only will their ap-
proach produce cool new products, it also
could eventually result inprocesses that are
moreenergy efficient and that don’t require
polluting chemicals. Nature, after all, runs
onsunlightandrecyclesalmostall itswaste.
This is the idea behind closed-loop eco-in-
dustrial parks
being built in Chattanooga,
Tennessee; Brownsville, Texas; Baltimore;
and Cape Charles, Virginia. Patterned on
theprocessesofmatureecosystems likered-
wood forests, eco-industrial parks seek to
group businesses that can use each other’s
waste products:Waste steam from apower
plant could be used in a pharmaceutical
plant, treated sludge from the pharmaceu-
tical firm could be used as fertilizer on a
nearby farm,andsoon.Nature’sefficiency is
also the inspirationbehind researchof how
diatomsmake silica film. Diatomsmanage
to create silica filmwithout the high tem-
peratures and toxic compounds nowneces-
sary tomake computer chips.
“Bio-inspired design has the capacity
to be completely transformative,” explains
professor Marc Weissburg, codirector of
the Center for Biologically InspiredDesign
at Georgia Tech. “Sometimes nature’s so-
lutions are somuch better that they could
completely change thewaywedo things.”
