Biology
Defense
Mechanisms that protect organisms from threats including predators, parasites, pathogens, and environmental hazards. Defenses can be structural, chemical, behavioral, or immunological.
Biological Context
Defense is costly—energy invested in defense cannot be used for growth or reproduction. Organisms balance defense investment against other needs. Defenses evolve in response to specific threats and can become obsolete when threats change.
Business Application
Business defense: protecting against competitors, disruption, and threats. Defensive investments (moats, IP, customer lock-in) trade off against offensive investments (growth, innovation). Over-investment in defense can starve growth; under-investment leaves vulnerability.