Biomimetics for Sustainable Developments-A Literature Overview of Trends.

Biomimetics holds the promise to contribute to sustainability in several ways. However, it remains unclear how the two broad concepts and research fields are connected. This article presents a literature overview on biomimetic sustainable developments and research. It is shown that there is an increasing trend in publications dealing with various topics and that the research takes place worldwide. The biological models studied in biomimetic sustainable developments are mostly sub-elements of biological systems on a molecular level and lead to eco-friendly, resource and energy-efficient applications. This article indicates that biomimetics is further integrating sustainability to contribute to real problems in this context.

Biomimetic Research for Applications Addressing Technical Environmental Protection.

Biomimetic research has increased over the last decades, and the development process has been systemized regarding its methods and tools. The aim of biomimetics is to solve practical problems of real-life scenarios. In this context, biomimetics can also address sustainability. To better understand how biomimetics research and development can achieve more sustainable solutions, five projects of applied research have been monitored and analyzed regarding biological models, abstracted biological principles, and the recognition of the applied efficiency strategies. In this manuscript, the way in which sustainability can be addressed is described, possibly serving as inspiration for other projects and topics. The results indicate that sustainability needs to be considered from the very beginning in biomimetic projects, and it can remain a focus during various phases of the development process.

The Education Pipeline of Biomimetics and Its Challenges.

Biomimetics must be taught to the next generation of designers in the interest of delivering solutions for current problems. Teaching biomimetics involves teachers and students from and in various disciplines at different stages of the educational system. There is no common understanding of how and what to teach in the different phases of the educational pipeline. This manuscript describes different perspectives, expectations, needs, and challenges of users from various backgrounds. It focuses on how biomimetics is taught at the various stages of education and career: from K-12 to higher education to continuing education. By constructing the biomimetics education pipeline, we find that some industry challenges are addressed and provide opportunities to transfer the lessons to application. We also identify existing gaps in the biomimetics education pipeline that could further advance industry application if a curriculum is developed.

Biomimetics Linked to Classical Product Development: An Interdisciplinary Endeavor to Develop a Technical Standard.

Biomimetics is a well-known approach for technical innovation. However, most of its influence remains in the academic field. One option for increasing its application in the practice of technical design is to enhance the use of the biomimetic process with a step-by-step standard, building a bridge to common engineering procedures. This article presents the endeavor of an interdisciplinary expert panel from the fields of biology, engineering science, and industry to develop a standard that links biomimetics to the classical processes of product development and engineering design. This new standard, VDI 6220 Part 2, proposes a process description that is compatible and connectable to classical approaches in engineering design. The standard encompasses both the solution-based and the problem-driven process of biomimetics. It is intended to be used in any product development process for more biomimetic applications in the future.

Biomimetics: teaching the tools of the trade.

Biomimetics is a known innovation paradigm of the twenty-first century with significant impact on science, society, economy, and challenges of sustainability. As such, it can be understood as a mindset for creative thinking and as a methodology or technique for effective knowledge transfer between disciplines, mainly biology and technology. As biomimetics is relevant to practitioners in various fields of application, understanding the teaching and training of biomimetics for different audiences is important. With this article, we aim to give a holistic view of teaching and training practices and opportunities. First, we offer a set of learning objectives based on an analysis of various courses worldwide and we give recommendations for the design of future curricula. Second, based on an audience analysis and interviews, we developed a set of personas of the users of biomimetics, and as such, we offer a deeper understanding of their needs for the design of the process, including tools and methods.

BRCC36A is epistatic to BRCA1 in DNA crosslink repair and homologous recombination in Arabidopsis thaliana.

BRCA1 is a well-known tumor suppressor protein in mammals, involved in multiple cellular processes such as DNA repair, chromosome segregation and chromatin remodeling. Interestingly, homologs of BRCA1 and several of its complex partners are also found in plants. As the respective mutants are viable, in contrast to mammalian mutants, detailed analyses of their biological role is possible. Here we demonstrate that the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana harbors two homologs of the mammalian BRCA1 interaction partner BRCC36, AtBRCC36A and AtBRCC36B. Mutants of both genes as well as the double mutants are fully fertile and show no defects in development. We were able to show that mutation of one of the homologs, AtBRCC36A, leads to a severe defect in intra- and interchromosomal homologous recombination (HR). A HR defect is also apparent in Atbrca1 mutants. As the Atbrcc36a/Atbrca1 double mutant behaves like the single mutants of AtBRCA1 and AtBRCC36A both proteins seem to be involved in a common pathway in the regulation of HR. AtBRCC36 is also epistatic to AtBRCA1 in DNA crosslink repair. Upon genotoxic stress, AtBRCC36A is transferred into the nucleus.

A homologue of the breast cancer-associated gene BARD1 is involved in DNA repair in plants.

hBRCA1 and hBARD1 are tumor suppressor proteins that are involved as heterodimer via ubiquitinylation in many cellular processes, such as DNA repair. Loss of BRCA1 or BARD1 results in early embryonic lethality and chromosomal instability. The Arabidopsis genome carries a BRCA1 homologue, and we were able to identify a BARD1 homologue. AtBRCA1 and the putative AtBARD1 protein are able to interact with each other as indicated by in vitro and in planta experiments. We have identified T-DNA insertion mutants for both genes, which show no visible phenotype under standard growth conditions and are fully fertile. Thus, in contrast to animals, both genes have no indispensable role during development and meiosis in plants. The two single as well as the double mutant are to a similar extent sensitive to mitomycin C, indicating an epistatic interaction in DNA crosslink repair. We could further demonstrate that in Arabidopsis BARD1 plays a prominent role in the regulation of homologous DNA repair in somatic cells.