Bioinspiration is a creative approach based on the observation of living systems, from microorganisms to ecosystems. It involves drawing on nature’s “library of ideas” to design and innovate, as well as to enrich our lives through artistic and cultural endeavours.

Natural history has a great deal to offer bioinspiration, by way of its vast collections of biological specimens, associated research and educational programmes. In turn, bioinspiration provides a new way to appreciate the value of Natural History Museums, as sources of sustainable and ethical solutions to modern day challenges.

In 2019, the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle launched Bioinspire-Museum to coordinate and promote Bioinspiration across the full breadth of its activities, with funding from the French Ministry of Environment. The Museum’s vision of Bioinspiration is presented in its Scoping Paper, published in 2020, supported by a Glossary of terms.

Bringing tomorrow’s eco-materials to the fore

In 2021, the BIOMIG "Bioinspired materials open innovation generator" programme was launched, jointly led by the Centre for Studies and Expertise in Biomimicry (CEEBIOS), EuraMaterials and the MNHN. This programme aims to develop the eco-materials of tomorrow, inspired by living organisms, and reconciling technical and environmental performance.

Supporting bioinspired projects

In 2023, Bioinspire-Museum launched Bioinspire-Explore, an Open-Source biodiversity data exploration tool, designed in collaboration with CEEBIOS and funded by the French Inter-ministerial Division for Digital Technology. This tool seeks to make biological data more accessible, particularly to non-biologists involved in bioinspiration projects. A scientific article about this tool was published in 2024: Bioinspire-Explore: Taxonomy-Driven Exploration of Biodiversity Data for Bioinspired Innovation (Saint-Sardos et al., 2024)1 along with a poster presentation2 at the 2024 International Online Conference on Biomimetics (Aish et al., 2024).  The Museum won an innovation purchasing award from the French Purchasing Agency (Trophées de l'achat d'innovation édition 20233) for the Bioinspire-Explore project.

Promoting an enlightened and ethical bioinspiration

In 2023, the scientific article Revisiting Nature’s “Unifying Patterns”: A Biological Appraisal4 was published to explain why a sound understanding of biology is essential for the successful implementation of bio-inspiration.

In 2025, the article Palaeo-bioinspiration draws on the fossil record to advance innovation5 was published in the journal Nature, presenting palaeo-bioinspiration as a proof of concept.

In 2026, Bioinspire-Museum published a series of ethical principles based on the Museum's values to guide our actions and govern interactions with external partners.

• 1

  Saint-Sardos, A.; Aish, A.; Tchakarov, N.; Bourgoin, T.; Petit, L.-M.; Sun, J.-S.; Vignes-Lebbe, R. Bioinspire-Explore: Taxonomy-Driven Exploration of Biodiversity Data for Bioinspired Innovation. Biomimetics 2024, 9, 63. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics9020063

• 2

  Aish, A.; Saint-Sardos, A.; Tchakarov, N.; Bourgoin, T.; Petit, L.; Sun, J.; Vignes-Lebbe, R. Bioinspire-Explore: Browsing Biodiversity Data for Bioinspiration, in Proceedings of the 1st International Online Conference on Biomimetics, 15–17 May 2024, MDPI: Basel, Switzerland

• 3

  Remise des Trophées de l'achat d'innovation aux lauréats 2023 et 2024

• 4

  Lecointre, G.; Aish, A.; Améziane, N.; Chekchak, T.; Goupil, C.; Grandcolas, P.; Vincent, J.F.V.; Sun, J.-S. Revisiting Nature’s “Unifying Patterns”: A Biological Appraisal. Biomimetics 2023, 8, 362. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics8040362

• 5

  Aish, A., Broeckhoven, C., Buffa, V. et al. Palaeo-bioinspiration draws on the fossil record to advance innovation. Commun Biol8, 706 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-08043-6

To stimulate discussion on paleo-bioinspiration

Bioinspire-Museum also hosted the first International Symposium on Palaeo-bioinspiration in September 2023 (PALBINS)6 stimulating discussion around this growing sub-field of bioinspiration. In 2025, a paper was published in Nature presenting palaeo-bioinspiration as a proof of concept:  “Palaeo-bioinspiration draws on the fossil record to advance innovation” (Aish et al., 2025).

• 6

  International Symposium on Palaeo-Bioinspiration13-15 Sep 2023 Paris (France)

During 2023's National Science Festival, Bioinspire-Museum set up a pop-up Bioinspiration Studio in the MNHN's Botanical Gallery. Funded by the Blue Train Project and the French Ministry of Environment, and designed by "Où sont les Dragons", the Studio sought to raise public awareness about bioinspiration, highlighting scientific, acoustic, and artistic bioinspiration projects focused on marine and terrestrial biodiversity. In the future, the Studio will be used for internal and external bioinspiration events.

Bioinspiration 360

To raise awareness about Bioinspiration and Bioinspire-Museum, a short virtual reality film has been created. Immerse yourself in Bioinspiration at the Museum and explore behind the scenes in 360° (film below).

Nature = Future ! films

Discover examples of bioinspiration via the “Nature = Future !” films.