Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
Materials
Inspired by nature
The bio-inspired and biomimetic medical market is predicted to grow at a fast rate over the next decade. But where exactly is the focus — and what is driving research and application in this dynamic area? With a new mussel-inspired medical coating making headlines, due to its effective antimicrobial properties, Dan Cave speaks to Salvio Suárez-Garcia, a researcher at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, and Professor Marc-Olivier Coppens, vice dean at the UCL Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering, to fi nd out more about bio-inspiration and real-world application.
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t was effectively impossible to miss the recent clamour surrounding the science-fiction blockbuster Dune: Part Two. An all-star cast, a lauded director, a large fandom that already loved the Frank Herbert book the movie was based on. Many went to watch it, with the film grossing over $700m worldwide. Even non-cinephiles would surely have found the movie hard to avoid. Posters of the film’s leads, Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, were ubiquitous from subway billboards to downtown ad hoardings. Decked out in survival suits, inspired by the hardy desert rats of their fantasy world, the starring duo towered over those going about their less intergalactic daily business.
Looking to nature to inform the creation of systems or materials with practical utility, or to solve complex social or scientific problems, is no new occurrence. After all, observing bird flight in the 15th century
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allowed Leonardo da Vinci to apply bio-inspired principles to the design of flying contraptions – blueprints that would go on to inform the actual first working aeroplane circa 400 years later. Hundreds of years on from Da Vinci’s work, meanwhile, bio- inspired materials can be seen across daily life: from plant-mimicking velcro to mosquito proboscis-derived needle development. With the study of capillaries, as well as starfish, being used to dictate the latest in robotics, it can even feel like bio-inspiration is pushing humanity into the realm of science fiction. It’s big business, too: the bio-inspired materials market is expected to be worth an eye-watering $73.6bn by 2032.
Such a big market cap is no surprise: modern medical life offers a plethora of challenges where nature could provide solutions. Consider, for instance, the question of antimicrobial resistance.
Medical Device Developments /
www.nsmedicaldevices.com
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