The sci-fi book I'm in the middle of reading regularly mentions a popular residential building technique of planting bioengineered seeds that grow into a permanent structure over the course of a year or so. The chapter I just read described some "homesteaders" training and weaving the growth of the plant over hemispherical balloons.
I first heard of seeds growing into structures from Drew Endy at Stanford. Fascinating concept. May take several more generations of biomaterials to get there.
