The Beauty of Bacteria

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/garden/bio-design-in-the-home-the-beauty-of-bacteria.html?ref=bacteria

Summary: "'We have been conditioned to fear micro-organisms', he said, 'but in fact they can be useful and have been for millenia...'" William Myers, a New York based author and teacher, told the New York Times after admitting that he had been fascinated by the idea of these tiny organisms. This idea came after becoming acquainted with yeast through making his own bread and beer. Myers has recently published "Bio Design: Nature, Science, Creativity," detailing the growing movement to incorporate natural processes in the creation of buildings and household items. The work focuses on 73 different projects, collected from creative studios and laboratories around the world, which will help conserve resources and limit waste. Some of these projects include how living trees can be "coaxed" into forming houses and bridges, how concrete can heal itself when damaged, and how the luminescence of fireflies can be used to power lamps. It has been said that architectural designers have been known to copy nature in their work, but Myers focuses on actually incorporating nature into household goods. One piece, called the "Moss Table", utilizes the small electrical charge released in moss due to the chemical breakdown of organic compounds by bacteria. In this case, less energy is needed to power a lamp connected to the table, conserving energy and creating a creative and stylish work of art. Another example is the "Halflife Lamp", which is a prototype for a lampshade coated with hamster ovary cells, modified with firefly DNA in order to generate an enzymatic reaction, causing the lamp to light up. Though the idea of copying the feel of nature is prevalent in bio design, it is more about "harnessing the machinery of the natural world to perform as nature does: storing and converting energy, producing oxygen, neutralizing poisons and disposing wastes in life-sustaining ways." In other words, these innovators have shown the true beauty behind life's processes, and want to share them with the world in order to create a more efficient and creative way of life.  

Connection: Last unit we focused on the life processes of microorganisms, and this article is a great example of real-world application of such processes. Currently we are studying the habits of plants, and I found it extremely interesting that some designers have begun to manipulate plant processes in order to incorporate them into architecture, such as "coaxing" a tree to form bridges or house-like structures. This article is extremely interesting, and also conveys the importance of conserving natural resources and reducing waste, all achievable through biological design. 
-Griffin