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Bioengineering — MIT-style

by Dean Thomas L. Magnanti, Vol. 1, No. 1, January 2004

Twenty-five years ago, we lacked the technology to access biological systems, measure them, change them, and design them at the molecular level. Today, the revolution in modern molecular and cell biology equips us with the tools to carry out these modifications. By applying engineering thinking to the fascinating systems presented by biology, we stand ready to create ground-breaking new technologies and science of enormous value to society.

Do you wonder what the "hot" trends of engineering are today?

Bioengineering appears on everyone's chic list these days, and there's good reason. The engineering possibilities unlocked by the molecular and genomic revolutions in biology offer a dramatically new approach to solving medical, environmental, and other societal problems. These include

  • the creation of replacement organs and tissues, including liver, cartilage, and nerves;
  • approaches that impede the drug resistance of cancer cells;
  • the use of artificial muscle fibers and information technologies for micro-surgical tools and other biomedical devices; and
  • an understanding of how cells repair themselves to determine the effects of exposure to environmental toxins.

Through bioengineering, engineering schools are transforming themselves, making the first widespread change in their departmental structures since the introduction of computer science a generation ago. At the School of Engineering, we too recognize bioengineering as a strategic direction for the future.

But we do bioengineering differently.

Let me tell you why. First, we are out in front defining a new discipline. In so doing, we're also creating an educational approach that will shape tomorrow's bioengineering leaders. Second, led by our talented faculty, students, and researchers, we are drawing upon the unique, diverse mix of interdisciplinary resources available to us at MIT.

Bioengineering at MIT is biology-based engineering.

The molecular and genomic revolutions have placed biology as a new foundational science for engineering, joining physics, chemistry, and math. At MIT, engineers are working with their counterparts in MIT's renowned Biology Department to meld biology with a design-oriented engineering approach. The new bioengineering looks at the problem and asks: what if we could regenerate living tissue itself? Or develop innovative gene therapeutics? Or build new devices using biological components?

We will benefit enormously by combining a quantitative, systems-integrative approach characteristic of engineering with cutting-edge engineering materials and instrumentation and with advances in the life sciences.

Educating the bioengineering leaders of the future

As we look ahead, we expect breakthroughs to arise from a new generation of pioneers - the new bioengineers. These will be individuals the School of Engineering has trained simultaneously and synergistically in biology and engineering rather than simply layering life science on an engineering foundation.

We have integrated bioengineering into the curricula of most of our departments. In 1998, we created the Biological Engineering Division to foster development of innovative degree programs that fuse biology and engineering. Last year, the division offered a new undergraduate course, "Introduction to Bioengineering," and is completing the development of a new SB program. This year, Chemical Engineering is launching a major in chemical-biological engineering. Other departments also offer concentrations or tracks in bioengineering: Course 2-A lets students tailor a curriculum, starting from a mechanical engineering base, to prepare them for fields such as biotechnology, biomedical engineering, or medicine.

Our unique resources, diversity, and scale

The School of Engineering offers extraordinary intellectual resources. In defining this new discipline, over 100 faculty are conducting research and teaching in areas where engineering intersects with biology and medicine. Our bioengineering efforts touch almost all our departments -- in addition to our Division of Biological Engineering, of course -- with deep involvement by Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Materials Science, as well as efforts in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Nuclear Engineering.

We work closely with colleagues in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) and through the MIT Computational and Systems Biology Initiative (CSBi). Established in 2002, CSBi is an MIT-wide program linking biology and engineering, including computer science, in a systems biology approach to the study of cell-to-cell signaling, tissue formation, and cancer. CSBi supports research, education, and outreach programs as a virtual center with faculty from 10 departments and centers.

Our size, breadth, long-established organizational commitment, and strong tradition of interdisciplinary and cross-cutting collaborative efforts enable the School to tackle issues with both a depth and a wide range of approaches that set us apart. By combining our premier programs in critical engineering disciplines with MIT's premier program in biology, we are taking a lead position in the new bioengineering that fuses them. All of these factors, together, define our unique position in this emerging field.

Measures of success

The School of Engineering wants to create a bioengineering revolution, bringing engineering thinking to the world of biology and bringing biology into the world of engineering. We further aim to establish bioengineering as a force for improving human life through better health, a cleaner environment, and economic progress. We will know we've succeeded with our initiative if five years from now we can say, "Here are all these wonderful inventions and discoveries that were made at MIT."