When faced with a thorny medical problem, Dr. Jeffrey Karp and his students sometimes head to Franklin Park Zoo or the New England Aquarium. But they’re not goofing off.

Animal life is a big source of inspiration for Karp and his colleagues at the center on regenerative therapeutics he runs at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The group has a knack for developing clever pieces of medical engineering based on how animals have adapted to their environment.