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  • Review Article
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Bioinspired dynamic colour change

Nature Reviews Bioengineering volume 3, pages 579–595 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Organisms possess a diversity of colours to promote their survival and reproductive success, using various mechanisms, including pigmentation, bioluminescence and structural colouration. These colouration strategies serve crucial ecological functions, such as crypsis for camouflage, aposematism for predator deterrence and vibrant displays that attract pollinators and potential mates. In particular, the ability to dynamically alter colour in response to environmental stimuli allows organisms to rapidly modify their appearance for communication, predation and defence. Drawing inspiration from these natural phenomena, dynamic colour change systems can be designed for applications in optics, sensors and biomedicine. In this Review, we discuss the biological mechanisms driving natural colouration and dynamic colour change, outlining how these can be recreated in engineered systems using structured materials, such as photonic crystals, liquid crystals, metasurfaces and thin films. We highlight how artificial dynamic colour systems can be designed to respond to different stimuli, such as mechanical, electrical, chemical, thermal and magnetic stimuli, examining their application in various fields, including in biomedical devices, sensing and displays.

Key points

  • Organisms have evolved diverse colouration strategies, using pigments, bioluminescence and structural colouration to enhance survival and reproductive success.

  • Colourations serve crucial functions, such as camouflage, predator deterrence and attraction of pollinators or mates.

  • Dynamic colour change allows the rapid adaptation to environmental stimuli.

  • Artificial dynamic colour change systems can be designed for applications in optics, sensing and biomedicine.

  • Further exploration of the biological mechanisms underlying dynamic colour change will be needed to engineer dynamic colouration for various applications.

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Fig. 1: Colours in nature.
Fig. 2: Mechanisms of colouration.
Fig. 3: Colour change in response to stimuli.
Fig. 4: Applications of bioinspired dynamic colour change.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (grant numbers RS-2025-00552995, RS-2024-00416938).

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Seok Hwan Choi, Dohyung Kim, Youngseok Lee.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Seok Hwan Choi, Dohyung Kim, Youngseok Lee, Sangwoo Hong, Jinwoo Lee, Juho Jeong, Jaewon Su, Hyungjun Lim & Seung Hwan Ko

  2. Institute of Engineering Research/Institute of Advanced Machinery and Design (SNU-IAMD), Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Seung Hwan Ko

  3. Interdisciplinary Program in Bioengineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Seung Hwan Ko

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S.H.C., D.K., Y.L. and S.H.K. researched data and wrote the manuscript. All authors contributed to the discussion, reviewing and editing of the manuscript.

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Choi, S.H., Kim, D., Lee, Y. et al. Bioinspired dynamic colour change. Nat Rev Bioeng 3, 579–595 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44222-025-00298-2

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