Bioinspiration, biomorphy, biomimicry, biomimetics, bionics, and biotemplating are terms used to describe the fabrication of materials or, more generally, systems to solve technological problems by abstracting, emulating, using, or transferring structures from biological paradigms. Herein, a brief overview of how the different terminologies are being typically applied is provided. It is proposed that there is a rich field of research that can be expanded by utilizing various novel approaches for the guidance of living organisms for "bio-mediated" material structuring purposes. As examples of contact-based or contact-free guidance, such as substrate patterning, the application of light, magnetic fields, or chemical gradients, potentially interesting methods of creating hierarchically structured monolithic engineering materials, using live patterned biomass, biofilms, or extracellular substances as scaffolds, are presented. The potential advantages of such materials are discussed, and examples of live self-patterning of materials are given.
Living structures: By projection of a light pattern from a computer-generated hologram, patterns of the algae Porphyridium purpureum were generated. The obtained pixelated pattern was evaluated and discussed in the context of the organism's phototaxis.
In the search for innovative ways of synthesising new materials, researchers are exploring a wide array of technologies and approaches – from sugar‐producing single‐celled organisms to biotemplates and 3D printing. In one novel technique, scientists are exploiting the sensitivity of microorganisms such as red algae and cyanobacteria.
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