Biomimetics - Nature’s roadmap to insights and solutions for burden of life style diseases

• Published in: Journal of Internal Medicine
• Main Authors: Stenvinkel, P, Painer, J, Johnson, RJ, Natterson-Horowitz, B
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: Article; Arctic
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7035180/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31639885; https://doi.org/10.1111/joim.12982

There are over 8 million species in this world that live in widely varying environments, from hot thermal fissures to cold arctic settings. These species have evolved over millions of years and vary markedly in how they have adapted to their environments. In the last decades, studies of how species have succeeded in surviving in different environments and with different resources have been recognized to provide not only insights into disease but also novel means for developing treatments. Here we provide an overview of two related and overlapping approaches (biomimetics and zoobiquity), which are turning to the natural world for insights to better understand, treat, and prevent human “burden of life style” pathologies from heart disease and cancer to degeneration and premature aging. We suggest that expanding biomedical investigation beyond its decades old conventional practices to new approaches based on a broad awareness of the diversity of animal life and comparative physiology can accelerate innovations in health care under the motto “Nature knows best”.