Give us five minutes and we’ll give you the top line on an important sustainability topic. This time our guide is Jared Yarnall-Schane, Director of Innovation at The Biomimicry Institute.
What’s the background to this Jared? Can you set the scene for us?
As humans, we’ve designed a built environment that looks very different from what has evolved over billions of years in nature. We’ve used heavy metals, oil and toxic chemicals, none of which are things that nature uses. We have a lot to learn from the natural species all around us, particularly when it comes to designing for sustainability, end of life, decomposition and circularity.
I’m a trained engineer, but I only took one biology class. What if as an engineer, I learned how life worked? Our founder, Janine Benyus, who popularised the use of the term biomimicry, uses a great example of an engineer working on a new pump design. They have taken tonnes of classes in maths, physics and chemistry, but no biology classes, and getting them to look at a whale’s heart for inspiration on how to create something capable of generating powerful flow rates over great distances with enormous resilience.
There are many real-world examples of where humans are pushing boundaries of learning from nature. One high profile example is a pioneering cardiologist called Dr. Barbara Natterson-Horowitz who has coined the phrase Zoobiquity. It describes a new species-spanning approach to health that recognizes the natural world as a powerful source of lifesaving insights for human health.
Another example, this time from the world of marine engineering, comes from a company called ECOncrete that has designed bio-enhancing concrete which encourages sea creatures to make their home on its surface. The combination of the adapted concrete and the shape of the ‘bricks’ provides the right kind of surface for creatures like oysters, mussels and tube worms to thrive on its under-water infrastructure, making it more resilient and improving its effectiveness in applications such as coastal protection while also encouraging biodiversity.
Key insight?
To unleash the potential of biodesign, we need more focus on helping innovators and entrepreneurs to access capital to fund research. My specific focus is innovation, supporting scientists and inventors to get their ideas into the market.
The funding gap for these scientist entrepreneurs before they can attract specialist VC investment is the valley of death for many start-ups. To help close that gap, we run competitions and provide the winners with funding and mentoring support.
But our work is unusual in that biomimicry isn’t sector specific or even tech sector specific. The deep tech research that leads to scalable start-ups can take 5 years before there’s anything to pitch to an investor. The biggest challenge I see currently is how do we commercialise fundamental research?
To date, most of the commercialization has been in medical or engineering sectors, but we are starting to see more interest from bodies like the National Science Foundation which recently put a call out saying they have a keen interest in funding bio design projects.
Word on the street?
A thousand entrepreneurs were expected at the Hello Tomorrow Deep Tech global summit in Paris on 9-10th March under the patronage of French President Emmanuel Macron. The event provided a showcase for what it claimed are the 70 finalists that will change the world in its eponymous Global Challenge.
Entries are open for the Biomimicry Institute and Ray C. Anderson Foundation’s 2023 Ray of Hope Prize which identifies the top nature-inspired startups globally. The 2022 winner of the $100,000 annual first prize was Greenpod Labs which is tackling food waste in the supply chain with a nature-based solution that extends the shelf life of fresh produce reducing the need for energy intensive cold storage.
The runner up was German company, Fusion Bionic whose laser-based surface patterning solution is inspired by natural surfaces such as the lotus leaf, sharkskin, collembola and morpho butterfly, which enables features such as self-cleaning and anti-icing.
In May 2023 we are relaunching The Biomimicry Launchpad , an initiative to accelerate the growth of biomimetic technology startups in order to create scalable solutions to systemic environmental and social challenges. We invite some of the most promising scientists, engineers, designers, and entrepreneurs to participate in our free 10-week program. The curriculum includes training, connections, and resources to encourage them to commercialize their work.
What’s the market outlook?
A report from BCG and Hello Tomorrow called Nature Co-Design: A Revolution in the Making estimates the market opportunity to be ‘in the trillion dollar range’ referencing a report by WEF on ‘The Future of Nature and Business’, that predicts nature-positive solutions could generate $10 trillion by 2030.
The US President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) published a report to help catalyse Biomanufacturing to Advance the Bioeconomy which points to a McKinsey Global Institute report from May 2020 that predicts direct annual economic impacts of approximately $2 trillion to $4 trillion in the decade from 2030 from the global bioeconomy.
In the UK, in September 2022 the UKRI Biotechnology and Biosciences Research Council published a strategic delivery plan in which is sets out a commitment to invest £150m a year to support high-quality ideas through its’ flagship responsive mode programme’
Also in 2022, the EU updated its Bioeconomy Strategy Action Plan, emphasizing the importance of the biotechnology sector. The European Circular Bioeconomy Fund has grown to €206 million after four rounds of investment.
Must have jargon/latest report?
- Biomimetics – defined as the study of the formation, structure, or function of biologically produced substances and materials (such as enzymes or silk).
- Biomimicry – the design and production of materials, structures, and systems that are modelled on biological entities and processes.
- Biodesign – is the intersection between biology and design that integrates organic processes, materials, and chemistry into the creation of our built environment
- Deep tech – is a term coined in 2014 by Swati Chaturvedi of the investment firm Propel(x) which refers to “companies founded on a scientific discovery or meaningful engineering innovation” and which also seek to make the world a better place.
Name dropper?
- Janine Benyus, Biomimicry Institute founder, biologist, author, innovation consultant, and self proclaimed “nature nerd.” She may not have coined the term biomimicry, but she popularized it in her 1997 book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature.
- Margo Farnsworth, author of Biomimicry and Business: How Companies Are Using Nature’s Strategies to Succeed
- Dr. Barbara Natterson-Horowitz A cardiologist and evolutionary biologist redrawing the boundaries of human medicine. Pioneer of Zoobiquity, a new species-spanning approach to health that recognizes the natural world as a powerful source of lifesaving insights for human health.
Address Book Contacts:
Biomimicry Toolbox Provides an orientation to biomimicry and introduces a set of tools and core concepts that can help problem-solvers from any discipline begin to incorporate insights from nature into their solutions. Also features an extensive reading list.
Ask Nature Designed by the Biomimicry Institute as a tool to provide guidance to students, educators, engineers, scientists, designers, artists, naturalists, and those from yet to be defined disciplines.
Learn Biomimicry The Biomimicry Institute’s educational partner providing biomimicry courses from world-class biomimicry practitioners, influential educators, and accomplished professionals.
The Wyss Institute at Harvard University is a research and development engine for disruptive innovation powered by bioinspired technologies with visionary people at its heart.
The Ray C. Anderson Foundation is committed to supporting and funding projects that ensure future generations inherit a world where healthy and functioning natural systems support all life. The late Ray Anderson was Founder and Chairman of Interface, Inc. and a sustainable business pioneer. Biomimicry was an important part of Ray’s and Interface’s early success in creating more environmentally friendly and better performing products.
