Biomimetic products are becoming abundant in today's world. Some mimic form, such as Chrystler's new DCX bionic car designed after the streamlined shape of the boxfish. Others mimic function, like self cleaning fabric and paints modeled after the lotus leaf. While products such as these are the most salient and tangible examples, biomimicry can also mimic entire ecosystems, and interaction principles used by nature for sustainability. Prairie ecosystems can serve as a model for the development of new agricultural techniques to replace the environmentally unsound and unsustainable practice of monoculture. This more comprehensive form of biomimicry is only beginning to be explored. At the Biomimicry Symposium held Friday, October 2, Janine Benyus, president of the Biomimicry Institute, emphasized to an enraptured audience that this is where the true potential of the field lies: “The problems that we face right now are a set of problems, a system of problems, and we need a system of solutions. So looking at organisms in their context of ecosystems is going to be extremely important.
 

Interdependence is key to survival. To foster mutualism, which supports everyone's success, it is essential to embrace solutions that give back to the community and the environment; solutions that generously help others meet their needs as well. Benyus warns that our linear “take, make, waste” society must convert to a cyclical “reclaim, retake, remake and return” ideology in order to sustain. To do this, we must abandon our role as dominator, in which we learn about nature, and embrace the role of student, learning from nature. While this shift in consciousness and stance will be difficult, the field of biomimicry itself is providing a wonderful role model. Leading by example, as a qualified mentor should, the biomimicry movement is following nature's lead, illustrating its own philosophy.
 

Like busy worker bees probing the environment for pollen, their elixir of life, biologists are fervently exploring our natural world for answers which could provide the solutions to many of our problems. The natural world holds many secrets that remain undiscovered, secrets that may revolutionize our society and culture. Human problem solving methods leave much of nature's genius underutilized, with only 12% of currently patented products and processes employing nature's principles for solving similar problems. Carrying mother nature's pearls of wisdom and knowledge, biologists are beginning to pollinate the thoughts and ideas of architects, engineers and other professionals who create the structure of our society, just as bees pollinate the flowers and trees.

Together these ideas germinate, developing over time into ripe fruits. Products like insulating materials designed after polar bear fur, solar cells modeling leaf photosynthesis, and cell phone displays that reflect like butterfly wings (Mirasol by Qualcomm) the fruits of biomimicry are being prepared for harvest. Within their core are harbored precious seeds; seeds of change, seeds of wisdom, seeds of hope, seeds of innovation... the seeds of our future. 

As the fruits of biomimicry are brought to market, people will begin to see their value, but more is needed to promote and disperse the philosophy. The key to biomimicry's success will be society's awareness and support. Luckily, the advocates of biomimicry are a dedicated and enthusiastic bunch. Like a strong wind carrying the hopes and dreams of dandelion tufts, community leaders, teachers and students are a driving force for the dispersal of the hopes and dreams of biomimicry in local communities. Mayor Jerry Sanders addressed the Symposium with an uplifting speech highlighting San Diego's commitment to the cause. Teachers of various levels and disciplines were in attendance, foraging for ideas and techniques to bring back to their classrooms. And students representing all stages of education showed their enthusiasm with a proactive and assertive attitude that could move mountains. One fearless middle school student stood up in front of the Prado Ballroom full of influential leaders and asked how she could bring the ideas to her small, isolated community in East County. High school students from High Tech High International in Point Loma have published a book on biomimicry and its utilization in San Diego. Graduate students in the UCSD bioengineering department inquired about initiating a network of communication between researchers and museums and zoos to promote collaborations. A student from San Diego's New School of Architecture and Design offered to do whatever it takes to bring biomimicry to the curriculum so that she and her peers could get the best and most currently relevant education possible. With such motivated advocates on its side, biomimicry is sure to take hold here in San Diego. 

However, to realize its full potential, biomimicry must go global. Organizations such as The Biomimicry Institute (http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/) and Bioneers (http://www.bioneers.org/) have taken the cause under their wing, disseminating the seeds of innovation far and wide. By sponsoring K-12 educational programs, teacher training, conferences, and web based information and networking platforms (http://asknature.org/), these organizations are providing the tools necessary for biomimicry to take flight around the nation, and the world. Universities are also starting to join the flock. Courses in biomimicry innovation have been incorporated into the training of designers and engineers at such influential institutions as UC Berkley, Arizona State University and the University of Calgary. The support and dedication of these institutions is getting the message out there, but biomimicry will need more than dispersal to take root.

Plants need sunlight, rain, and soil nutrients to thrive. Biomimicry will need business to provide resources for growth and development. Unfortunately, with the current drought in the economy, these resources are hard to come by. Government funding is already stretched beyond its limits, and the private sector's risk-averse investment strategy in times of scarcity does not lend itself to new ideas. Nature is no stranger to this situation, realizing that if development is forced when conditions are not optimal, catastrophic losses may be incurred, rather than gains. In response, nature has designed many organisms, including seeds, to lie dormant until the right conditions are met. With nature as its guide, biomimicry may have to lay dormant through the economic winter, waiting patiently for spring to arrive.

Spring will come, and biomimicry will blossom into life, filling our world with beautiful, self-sustainable solutions. Better solutions: energy efficient solutions, with less toxic manufacturing processes and byproducts; solutions that will benefit the community and the environment. The first generation of biomimetic products and processes will serve as a proof of principle, feeding public trust of and support for the philosophy, much like the green movement has established itself over the last several years. With consumer demand at its back, the movement will grow exponentially as business becomes more motivated to jump on board in the ensuing cycle of production. Many factors and conditions are required for life and growth, but with cooperation and care, a sustainable planet is within our reach. We are well on our way. Benyus encourages us to pursue this path to our future. “We lost our way. Biomimicry is a way to find our way back to this home that is ours, but not ours alone.”
 

For more information on Biomimicry and the Symposium, see previous articles on MySDScience:

 

http://mysdscience.com/article/72/the-san-diego-zoo-conservation-and-innovation

http://mysdscience.com/article/69/biomimicry-symposium-sheds-new-light-on-our-future

October 12, 2009 by Shannon Weiman, PhD