39. Biomimicry and Chemistry
Introduction of Biomimicry
Almost 25% of all modern medicines are manufactured directly from the use of plants. Moreover, there are also other plants that are yet to be examined, which could potentially have millions of unique chemical compounds that could have medicinal value. If one puts much thought into it, where would one start looking for inspiration? Practically, it could take a lot of years for someone to research and look through a large list of plants and its chemical compounds to find their medicinal value. However, fortunately, researchers have found an easy concept to find a solution to this problem. By observing chimpanzees, researchers have learnt that they seek out plants with medical applications to cure their illness. It has been found that trees from the Vernonia genus contain chemical compounds to fight off parasites such as pinworm and hookworm in humans. This concept is more popularly known as Biomimicry. It is the combination of science and art in emulating nature’s best biological ideas to solve human problems. This is one of the times where we look at nature as a tool to measure and coach us about innovation. However, you may wonder what has this got to do with Chemistry. This is where our chemistry tutor is different from many others. He ensures that we learn the things around interestingly but also ensures that it is related to our syllabus!
What is the link between biomimicry and chemistry?
Many scientists are constantly looking for green solutions, especially in the current situation of the world, where global pandemics and disasters are becoming common. Our chemistry tuition will also actively encourage students to consistently think for better solutions, although the world is just comfortable to live in. With the concept of biomimicry, scientists are turning to nature for answers to problems that come from chemical processes. One of the examples is based on the “Spider Web Glue”. Most of us have felt how annoying the spider’s web lives in the nooks and creaks in our houses. However, with biomimicry, our scientists put on their thinking cap and found something unique. They discovered that it is made out of proteins with sugars attached to the molecules. The DNA and enzymes in the spider would synthesise the glue, and scientists are looking at how to utilise this with biomimicry. Just after reading this, look around and get started with your inspiration! It is never late to be as creative as you can. Don’t forget to consult our chemistry tutor for any help you might need. He will be more than happy to grow minds.
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The three key criteria of green chemistry are cost, safety, and performance. The advantage of biomimicry is that once we get an inspiration, our next few steps is to proceed with a chemical reaction, or a principle to get to our final few stages. Sometimes, the best ideas come to us when we are sleeping, or even bathing alone. As we are in our first few stages of saving our earth for the future generations, let us all do our part to get innovative ideas for the benefit of everyone. Some of the examples of inspirations include, self-cleaning paint, formaldehyde-free plywood adhesive, and self-cleaning surfaces, with the influence of lotus leaf. Let our chemistry tuition serve as a starting point to your inspiration, and contact him immediately for any help you might need with anything; of course that is related to the subject.
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