Why did I choose to study bioengineering? For me, bioengineering is an entirely different field of completely new ideas and techniques in the world of science. I have never truly experienced any particular part of bioengineering, but I am definitely intrigued by the ability to use engineering skills to help build technologies to advance medicine. I chose to study bioengineering because it combined chemistry, math, and some biology/medicine which are all fields that interest me. I came to an Engineering Open House at Penn this past fall, and heard many different people speak on the different fields of engineering. Bioengineering is the one that stood out most. All in all, I don't know too much about bioengineering, yet. But what I do know of it's basis is what sparked an interest in me to choose bioengineering.
What do bioengineers do? I am sure that bioengineers are affiliated with a multitude of different projects or assignments relating to bioengineering. However, what I associate most with bioengineers is the job of using engineering to create new technology that advances the world of medicine. This may include devices to help people with bone problems such as hip replacements, or it could include a piece of technology that could be used in medicine. Perhaps bioengineers involved in tissue engineering or stem cell engineering can harvest new cells/tissues to replace sick or deteriorated tissues.
If I had a chance to go back in time and work on some piece of bioengineering technology... I would choose to go back to Israel, in September of 2004, where scientists were able to create fully functional cardiomyocytes from stem cells. It seems unreal that actual functioning heart cells could be formed in a petri dish, however, it was done. This seems like a major advancement in bioengineering technology to me, and I would definitely want to be a part of it. The heart is such a central, fundamental, and iconic organ in all dimensions, and thus I think that the creation of functioning cardiomyocytes in 2004 would be an incredible thing to have been a part of.
What would I like to learn about? I am definitely interested in learning about all of the different fields that bioengineers study. I think I know a little bit about the overall concept of bioengineering, but I am definitely interested in narrowing down what it is that intrigues me most. More particularly, I would like to learn about tissue engineering, stem cell engineering, and neurological engineering.
What skill would I like to learn how to do? There is no specific skill in particular that I know of in bioengineering that I would like to learn how to do, however, I do want to learn how to combine the basis of physics, chemistry, calculus, biology, and medicine to create technologies in bioengineering. How does it all fit together? So far, I've learned the basics of each field of study on it's own. But what I really would like to learn how to do is to put all of these skills together and to be able to create something.
Biotechnology in the News: According to an article published by Nicholas Wade in the New York Times (August 2009), new advances in biotechnology have created a machine that is able to fully sequence a human genome for less than $50,000. This is a huge breakthrough because aside from large sequencing companies with huge numbers of employees and machinery, the cost of sequencing a human genome was around $250,000. This new machine cut the cost down by about 20%. In addition, it was extremely efficient, reporting about 1 error in every 20,000 DNA units. The article also reported that a machine designed to sequence the human genome for under $1,000 would likely be achieved in 2-3 years. This is such a breakthrough, though, because at this cost, it is likely that sequencing of genomes could become a routine part of medical practice. As a result, researches will be able to look further into the genetic basis of various chronic diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's or diabetes. The machine works by breaking DNA into small fragments of about 32 DNA units per strand. Each strand is then placed under a microscope where a new helix is built up, which generates light and by pairing complementary units, reveals the identity of the DNA. A computer matches up these sequences with DNA that has already been sequenced in the past. Overall, this new machine is a large advance in biotechnology and offers much promise to the future of medicine and genetics.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/science/11gene.html
What else interests me? One thing that I am particularly intrigued by is genetic engineering. I think that it is really interesting to see what can be changed or created by playing around a little bit with the genomes of various species. I think that genetic engineering is something that is advancing quickly and is playing a major role in today's world. I would definitely be interested in learning more about this particular field.
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