The document discusses biomimetic design principles for a project aiming to support national youth employment and career development in the US. It examines biology that provides inspiration, focusing on genomes, gene transcription, and complete gene expression. Genomes represent a high-level adaptive framework, gene transcription allows for localized customization, and gene expression dictates diverse, localized functions - principles that will guide the project framework to support long-term, sustainable solutions through diverse, locally attuned responses.

1. John Longchamps
Denise DeLuca
Biomimetic Design
MCAD | Summer 2015
Discover: Long-term systemic sustainability through
implementing diverse, locally attuned functionality and
response stemming from a high-level context-adaptive
agile framework.
Project Objective: Create a context-adaptive agile framework to support
national youth employment and career development in the United States with
local modes of implementation.
Purpose of this exercise:
Identifying biology that leverages locally attuned functionality and
diversity to provide natural inspiration for the project
functionality, “long-term systemic sustainability through leveraging
diverse, locally attuned functionality and response,” in support of
the objective, “supporting youth employment and career development.”
Function being addressed: Long-term systemic sustainability through
leveraging diverse, locally attuned functionality and response,
establishing a context-adaptive agile framework to support national
youth employment and career development in the United States with
local modes of implementation.
Biology that Perform this Function:
The following pages highlight biology that performs functions-of-
interest and were identified through the three separate sources:
Source 1: Robert J Brooker et al. “Biology.” Third Edition - Boston -
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc – 2012.
Source 2: National Institute of Health (NIH)
Source 3: nature.com (Nature Publishing Group)

2. Source 1: Genomes (Brooker, et al.)
Image: Brooker, et al, “Biology”
“The genome, which is comprised of DNA, is the entire genetic
composition of an organism. Most of the genetic material is found in
the cell nucleus. The primary function of the genome is to encode the
proteome, which is the entire protein complement of a cell or
organism. Proteins are largely responsible for the structure and
function of cells and complete organisms.” (Brooker, et al.)
Strategies Utilized:
 Chemistry – The cyclical uptake and export of
substances/resources.
 System – Localize the entire genome sequence in the nucleus of
each cell. The complete “assembly guide” for the organism.

3. Source 2: Gene Transcription (NIH)
Image: NIH – National Human Genome Research Institute
“Transcription is the process of making an RNA copy of a gene
sequence. This copy, called a messenger RNA (mRNA) molecule, leaves
the cell nucleus and enters the cytoplasm, where it directs the
synthesis of the protein, which it encodes.” (NIH)
Strategies Utilized:
 Process – Transcribing gene sequences to produce necessary arrays
of diverse proteins.
 Chemical – The nucleotide in DNA consists of one of four bases
(cytosine (C), thymine (T), adenine (A), guanine (G). These
chemical bases form together as the building blocks of DNA
nucleotides.

4. Source 3: Complete Gene Expression (nature.com)
Image: nature.com
“Genes encode proteins and proteins dictate cell function. Therefore,
the thousands of genes expressed in a particular cell determine what
that cell can do. Moreover, each step in the flow of information from
DNA to RNA to protein provides the cell with a potential control point
for self-regulating its functions by adjusting the amount and type of
proteins it manufactures.” (nature.com)
Strategies Utilized:
 Process – Gene expression - dictating cell functionality -
follows a sequential process that applies to specialized cells
throughout the entire organism.
 Scale – Gene expression happens within every nuclear cell in an
organism.
 Pattern – Certain gene combinations elicit certain
functionalities.

5. Strategy Selection:
Strategies discovered from all three sources in this “Discovery” phase
exercise will be emulated for the project objective of “long-term
systemic sustainability through implementing diverse, locally attuned
functionality and response stemming from a high-level context-adaptive
agile framework.”
All three strategies are being selected due to their interdependency,
system-wide application, and context adaptive (locally attuned)
efficacy, and will be leveraged in the biomimetic design process.
 Genomes embody the high level context-adaptive agile framework.
This will be useful for creating the high-level implementation
guide library that will be available through the web-based
portal.
 Gene transcription embodies the “curation” or development of
custom development guides (locally-attuned context-specific) that
pull from the central library.
 Complete gene expression embodies the functional on-the-ground
effects of implementing the custom development guides in the
field.