This paper describes a sensor network architecture, called BiSNET, which addresses several key issues in wireless sensor networks such as autonomy, adaptability, self-healing and simplicity. Based on the observation that various biological systems have developed mechanisms necessary to overcome these issues, BiSNET follows certain biological principles such as decentralization, food gathering/storage and natural selection to design sensor networks. This paper describes and evaluates the biologically-inspired mechanisms in BiSNET. Simulation results show that BiSNET allows sensor nodes to autonomously adapt their duty cycles for power efficiency and responsiveness of data transmission, to collectively self-heal (i.e., detect and eliminate) false positives in their sensor readings, and to be lightweight.