BioInspired! So What? Now What!

"Life scientists yearn to understand the natural world. They persist in trying to unravel the mysteries of biology because these mysteries are inherently intriguing. But more pressingly, scientists want to learn how biological systems work so that they can control them. Such control yields benefits to health and to the human enterprise in countless ways. Harnessing biology's magic underlies the extraordinary promise of biotechnology"

This website discusses netabolic engineering and gives a number of examples where biology has been applied to specific technical problems in areas such as creating methanol from methane, breaking down dangerous substances, and developing an artificial "tongue".