Nature's ingenious solutions often precede human innovation, as exemplified by the giraffe's remarkable respiratory adaptations.
With a 2m-long neck, the giraffe needs to work hard just to breathe. Every time air is moved up and down its trachea, between the mouth and the lungs, is a wasted effort. This is because the movement is through what is known as dead space – the connecting pipes that do not take part in gas exchange.
The same problem faces patients on life-support machines or ventilators, especially those with asthma. In the past few years, we now understand what tweaks to make to the ventilator and tubing to help reduce this wasted effort.
Yet, had we looked at how giraffes breathe, we could have worked it out long before. Giraffes take deep, slow breaths to combat the dead space in their tremendously long trachea. They have also reduced the diameter of the pipes, just as we do in the intensive care unit to reduce the amount of dead space taken by every breath.
Discover our series on medical innovations rooted in nature's remarkable adaptations...
From ants' pandemic tactics and koalas' digestive wisdom, to frog-based life-support systems, we explore how the animal kingdom shapes human healthcare.
We also take a look at midge-like painless injections, crane-derived temperature control, white-blooded fish cold resistance, whale-mimicking heart treatments, chimpanzee-informed grief management, and longevity secrets from naked mole rats. Join us as we uncover how wildlife continues to revolutionise medicine.