Abstract
This paper investigates how bio-inspired design can contribute to preventive healthcare by learning from the adaptive intelligence of living systems. Through a Critical Interpretive Synthesis of 356 studies, it explores the translation of concepts like adaptation, cooperation, and self-repair from biology to design practice. The Design Knowledge Translation Model (DKTM) is introduced to illustrate the process by which biological insights are interpreted, abstracted, and applied to inform design knowledge. The findings indicate that leveraging nature-inspired reasoning can shift healthcare from a reactive to an anticipatory approach, fostering systems that enhance wellbeing and collective care. Furthermore, this work provides a guideline for interdisciplinary collaboration across biology, design, and clinical science, establishing bio-inspired thinking as a shared language for developing preventive and adaptive life-centred innovations.
Keywords
Bio-inspired, Design, Healthcare, Interdisciplinary
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1625
Citation
Tu, X., and Liu, W. (2026) Bio-inspired Design for Preventive Healthcare: Translating Living Systems into Design Knowledge, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1625
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Bio-inspired Design for Preventive Healthcare: Translating Living Systems into Design Knowledge
This paper investigates how bio-inspired design can contribute to preventive healthcare by learning from the adaptive intelligence of living systems. Through a Critical Interpretive Synthesis of 356 studies, it explores the translation of concepts like adaptation, cooperation, and self-repair from biology to design practice. The Design Knowledge Translation Model (DKTM) is introduced to illustrate the process by which biological insights are interpreted, abstracted, and applied to inform design knowledge. The findings indicate that leveraging nature-inspired reasoning can shift healthcare from a reactive to an anticipatory approach, fostering systems that enhance wellbeing and collective care. Furthermore, this work provides a guideline for interdisciplinary collaboration across biology, design, and clinical science, establishing bio-inspired thinking as a shared language for developing preventive and adaptive life-centred innovations.