Biointegrative Design (BinD): An Interdisciplinary Paradigm for Sustainable Biohybrid Systems

Abstract

The expansion of robotics and automation has been accompanied by increasing accumulations of e-waste and other persistent materials in natural environments. Biohybrid systems, which combine synthetic components with living matter, offer a fundamentally different path grounded in biodegradability and the zero-footprint approach. Existing design approaches often produce predefined structures that fail to leverage the dynamic capabilities of living matter. Treating growth, regeneration, and adaptation as intrinsic design variables changes how biohybrid systems are conceived, integrated, and fabricated from the outset. Here, Biointegrative Ddesign (BinD) is proposed as a design paradigm in which biological dynamics are intrinsic variables. Comprising four main stages—bioconceptualization, living subsystem design, supporting subsystem design, and integration and prefabrication—BinD constitutes a continuous, iterative design process. This article shows how BinD crosses disciplinary boundaries to chart a path toward living machines that grow, adapt, and degrade, while transforming fabrication processes, application areas, and business models. It also outlines a universal blueprint for the institutional shifts needed to support BinD and other emerging interdisciplinary paradigms. Together, these contributions lay the groundwork for sustainable engineered systems that align their entire life cycle, from fabrication to degradation, with the natural environment.