I took a robotics course in college that modeled robot structures, materials, and controls off of the attributes of plants and animals: Organism and Robot. It was the best engineering course in my entire four years.
BTTT
Why not just throw the plans for the undersea intercontinental cable Global Crossing was going to build and let the sponges do it? One caution - don't let them unionize.
The Glass Menagerie (It's a Sponge)
3 parasites' shared genes yield clues
Ethicists Offer Advice for Testing Human Brain Cells in Primates
Some folks were added to the health and science ping list because of their interest in stem cells and the last link in this comment. I don't post stories about health and medicine anymore. I just link them to threads or the original websites. Feel free to post them if you want to post them on FR.
Spongeworthy ?
I find it really hard to believe that all God's creatures, who seem perfectly "designed" for their environments, got to be the way they are by accident.