Thoughts on the Parallels between Biology and Technology
nature driving technology, or the other way round?
Recently, I did a deep dive into this company called Calyx Tech, which is focused on using bio-engineered phage-based sensors for the purpose of multi-gas detection. What really caught my eye about this company is that it challenges the status quo (expensive and ineffective traditional gas sensing) by working together with biology, which enables a solution 500x more effective than conventional technologies and transforms the agriculture/food, cosmetics, environment and even aviation industries.
The sensing technology, as aforementioned, relies on a type of bacteriophage (which is a virus that infects and replicates within bacteria, hence the name) sensitive to different gases known as M13. What Calyx does is create/customize a chip coated with bundles of the phages most reactive to the gas we’re trying to detect. When the phages react to the required gas, the bundles swell and change color (due to scattering of light). There is also an element of data science at play here to analyze detected gases and gain useful insights into the same.
This, my friend, was the beginning of an internet rabbit hole about the interplay between biology and technology. By this, I don’t mean the use of technological tools in biology, but rather the many parallels between the two and how often biology can inspire technological applications or even physically aid them, as we saw with Calyx.
nature’s architects & biodegradable sunscreen
biology as a driver of innovation
Now, you might’ve heard of biomimetics (or biomimicry), which is the concept of modelling after nature and its elements and processes to solve human problems.
I recently read an article from my friend Sofia Sanchez that touched on termite architecture, which relates to building buildings similar in structure and process to a termite mound. Termites are the insect world’s reigning architects, known for creating structures known as termite mounds that are extremely stable and strong, but also porous enough to enable ventilation of their underground nests.
- The bilayered architecture of a termite mound: While at first thought, maintaining porosity along with strength may seem like an antithesis (“how can you be porous WHILE being dense???”), nature makes it happen with the help of a two-layered architecture system. The dense core layer takes care of the strength part, whereas the porosity comes from the outer layer. Together, they create an extremely stable structure, that may even be considered ‘over-engineered’ by human standards.
- A biomimetic application: Eastgate Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe is a shopping complex that builds on the principles of termite mounds to creatively control the storing and releasing of heat without using conventional methods like air conditioning/heating. This is facilitated by fans and the various openings throughout the building. The below image explains its functioning pretty well:
Keep in mind, biomimetics is everywhere; from shaping architecture to something as simple as sunscreen. Yup, that’s right, sunscreen.
Raise your hand if you use synthetic sunscreen. 🙋
Presently, most of us use synthetic chemical sunscreen to protect ourselves from harmful UV rays. However, with the increased use of synthetic chemical sunscreen, there is an increased amount of harmful chemicals that make their way into the ocean and wreak havoc on marine life.
This is where Sóliome’s sunscreen comes in. This company combats this problem by producing non-toxic, biodegradable sunscreen based on the UV protection provided by kynurenines, a suite of chemicals present in the human eye concentrated in the lenses. They do this by attaching additional bio-inspired compounds to the kynurenines to increase the size of the molecules, which enables them to build up on the surface of the skin rather than penetrating through.
This scenario is similar to the technology behind Calyx, where we are leveraging biological processes within technological advancements rather than merely drawing inspiration from them.
I find it really fascinating that nature tends to answer so many of our problems; work inspired by nature is almost ALWAYS more efficient. Now, isn’t that pretty neat? :)
regenerative technology and medicine
utilizing technology to fuel biological processes
I also find the idea of incorporating a biological concept like healing into a technological device pretty elegant, even if it doesn’t exactly use biological tools to do so.
You might have heard of self-repairing glass, which, as the name suggests, is a type of glass that can be repaired simply by applying pressure after it cracks. The glass, developed in 2017, is made of a polymer called polyether thioureas. What contributes to its repairing properties is the thiourea part, which increases the hydrogen bonding ability of the material when broken, making the edges of the shattered glass self-adhesive.
What’s cooler is that this is not only useful for your phone screens but also has potential applications in the field of medicine to drive healing — yet another intersection between biology and technology! That’s right, self-healing materials, being soft and adaptive, may be used someday inside the human body to regenerate body parts. Our star player here is the polymer nanoshell, which contains mRNA molecules.
These nanoshells break down and deliver mRNA molecules right to the site of an injury, which instructs the surrounding cells to proceed with their natural healing mechanisms. The method uses the body’s own cells, which eliminates the risk of cell rejection that usually occurs with the use of foreign healing agents.
Unlike biomimetics, in this scenario, we are using technology to drive biological processes. We are not creating movie-style cyborgs by replacing parts of our bodies altogether; rather, we are using nanoparticles to enhance and accelerate the biological processes already present and involved in healing. This could be revolutionary for helping to ease the joint repair processes or tackling tooth decay. It also alleviated symptoms in the case of osteoporotic mice (where this method was originally tested on), successfully aiding bone healing.
lessons from the rabbit hole
the synergistic collaboration of biology and technology
From my learnings, I’m inclined to believe that the world is the lovechild of biology and technology. Our environment and quality of life are a product of the interaction between the two realms and are thus shaped by these forces. When they are actively complimenting each other, as shown above, we see advancements that 10x the status quo (or, in the case of Calyx, 500x :0) and create more efficient, effective processes.
The synergy between the two enables an ecosystem where ideas in one field can inspire breakthroughs in the other. It is interdisciplinary at its very core, seeking unconventional parallels. By leveraging the strengths of both disciplines, we can develop groundbreaking technologies to solve the world’s biggest problems. This could take the form of anything from biodegradable sunscreen to targeted drug delivery systems. The possibilities really are endless.
Hey 👋, I’m Rania, a 17 y/o activate alum at the Knowledge Society, passionate about biotech and AI. Currently, I’m nerding out on using artificial intelligence for education. I’m always ready to learn, grow and inspire. I’d love to connect; reach out to me on any of my social media and let’s be friends!
