ABSTRACT
This chapter provides how biology is inspiring new manufacturing methods. Bio-fabrication and bio-utilization are some of many terms used to describe the practice of harnessing natural processes to manufacture products, chemicals, and so on, that also solve human problems. One bio-fabrication research area steadily gaining momentum is "mycoterials" and "mycotecture". Synthetic biology is another rapidly growing branch of bio-fabrication that has applications in medicine, building science, and increasingly, in consumer product manufacture. One particularly interesting dimension of bio-inspiration is "bio-inspired manufacturing". Bio-inspired technologists and contemporary fabrication methods again show promise to reinvent how we manufacture structures with less material at all scales. One widely published example of built environment self-repair was explored by Dutch researcher Henk Jonkers at the Delft University of Technology. Like an external immune system, unmanned aerial vehicle may soon patrol and repair built environment without attracting much attention.
