Hope on the horizon: Bioengineering

May 21, 2008

MIT faculty and researchers offer their thoughts on potentially life-altering
technologies that lie just around the corner.

Phillip Sharp

Institute Professor

New technology is a source of wealth that can elevate the standard of living of all humankind. For the first time we are challenged not only to enhance our way of life but also to also protect all life forms. Part of the response to this challenge will be increasing production of materials and foods by biologically based processes.

Thus, design of biological organisms and engineering of production processes will be more important tomorrow than today. We need to make investments now. In the short term, the merging of engineering and biology will generate new technologies that will impact the economy through generation of better medicines, agriculture and materials.

A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on May 21, 2008 (download PDF).

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