The underlying theme is how, and at what level of complexity, can useful analogies be established between biology and engineering. The search is for a pattern that is common to both technology and biology. The belief is that such a pattern exists. The basic pattern of biology is established by cells. They assemble to form an organised hierarchy, separating into organs, specialising as functional units, semi-autonomous. Through evolution, organisms achieve great efficiency, reliability and adaptiveness. Some of the changes and development involved can be traced in trade-offs that commonly allow the mechanisms behind adaptiveness to be dissected and understood. For the classification of trade-offs, we turn to Genrich Altshuller who, in common with all Russians, was taught that dialectics (of which trade-offs are a form) expressed as thesis and antithesis are universal, so are their syntheses. Based on this, he invented TRIZ, a successful problem-solving technique primarily used in technology. Using his techniques, it is possible to express biological systems in the same terms as technology and fuse the two disciplines.