Ever been to the world of Ragnarok? Strangely enough monsters drop items that sometimes are not visibly ON their body. Though this doesn’t seem to be much of information, it is nice to know that a living creature, though fictional, can keep things alive with it. Imagine GOLD living in a creature, growing as the creature grows. Metal, ores, jewels, PROCESSED food and fabrics all extracted from living creaures that reproduce very rapidly.
All that’s needed is the proper DNA and the resource you want and we can spawn creatures that contain anything from apple pie to zirconium. For mineral, inanimate objects, the creatures would injest dirt and ground, filtering the certain material needed to get the wanted results. For biotic, edible objects, an advanced diet, consisting of the ingredients’ raw material and flavors and with their special excretory systems, separating the different components of the food item for easy handling. This MAY be cruel, so it would be best if this never sees daylight.
I suggest animals because it is in Animals that we can find the other More Flexible systems. A plant can’t make bones. And so far, all that a plant makes is decomposable. An animal can make bone and ivory. Basically, this is from it’s diet. However, a junction between the two is STILL possible, providing sunlight driven machines to provide workforce. However, that’s a different story.
Cruelty or Innovation… You be the judge. But if the world hungers for its resources, then why not let it grow…