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Science imitates life

Lab Animal volume 42, pages 271–272 (2013)Cite this article

Biomimicry (also called biomimetics) is a design principle that emulates nature's proven strategies, materials and models to sustainably solve human problems. From a design standpoint, nature has been at work in the evolutionary laboratory for approximately 3.8 billion years. During this time it has refined, by trial and error, living organisms, processes and materials to create only the most efficient products and systems. Biomimicry seeks to take advantage of nature's research and development pursuits by imitating its genius. Or as Janine Benyus, the president of the Biomimicry Guild, writes in her book, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature1, “...failures are fossils, and what surrounds us is the secret to survival.”

The archetypal example of biomimetics is that of Swiss engineer and inventor, Georges de Mestral. After returning home from a hunting trip one summer day in 1941, he noticed a number of small burdock burrs sticking to his clothing. Examining one of the burrs under a microscope, de Mestral noticed that the seed contained hundreds of tiny barbs (or hooks) that allowed it to attach to his coat by snagging onto loops in the fabric. Inspired by the barbs of the burdock seed, de Mestral conceived a fastening device that would reversibly bind two materials together using a matrix of very small hooks and loops. Ten years later he introduced the world to Velcro—a portmanteau of the French words velours (velvet) and crochet (hook).

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Authors
  1. Thomas Rowley
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Rowley, T. Science imitates life. Lab Anim 42, 271–272 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban.351

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