Problems with pregnancy

An example of a type 2 trade-off ([A] and [B]) is that between reproduction and immunity. In mammals, insects, and other animals in which the eggs are fertilised inside the female, the male’s sperm enters her body and will be recognised as alien. Under normal circumstances her immune system would step in and neutralise the invading secretions. But that would defeat the object of reproduction. Instead, the female downgrades her immune system so that a sperm can reach an egg and fertilise it. But this now leaves her open to disease and parasites. So she tends to hide out of the way, become torpid, and avoids contact with external threats.

We can display this as a curve on the axes of Reproduction versus Immunity. The Pareto curve representing best performance will probably be concave as in the “Travel to Work” example. As the influences of reproduction and immunity change, the balance between the two – the trade-off – moves adaptively along the Pareto Front, which delineates the best combination of the two elements of the trade-off, depending on the context. Changing the position of the optimum choice by moving along the Front represents adaptiveness, an important consideration in biological fitness and success. This principle ensures that an organism is best adapted to its environment, depending on the range of responses of the cellular control systems. It’s all about information.

So that’s the basic biomimetic system: Define a biological trade-off. By experiment, determine the variables that control it. Convert those variables into their technical analogues. Produce the technical prototype.

They say that Great Artists Steal. So let’s steal the methods of translating trade-offs and variables from TRIZ, where they have all been developed.