April 1, 2024

Mary Isabelle Reyes

11th Grade

University of Santo Tomas Senior High School

Artificial organs for transplantation, herbicide-resistant crops, and space suits — what do these three have in common? If you guessed anywhere along the lines of "same discipline," "made by a certain profession," or "related to life," you would be correct! Specifically, these three significant scientific innovations and many other similar breakthroughs are all products of biological engineering. 

Biological engineering, often shortened to bioengineering, is a broad discipline that combines the study of engineering with the life sciences. Anything that involves improving life — whether human, plant, or animal — using developing new systems or technologies is a form of bioengineering in and of itself. 

Although many of the advances bioengineering is known for (such as genome editing, for one) have just occurred over the past few decades, the principles of bioengineering have been continuously applied for centuries to adequately respond to life's needs. Prosthetic body parts, for instance, have been around since Ancient Egyptian times, with sufficient written and archaeological evidence. Crops and the methods used to breed and hybridize plants are more products of early bioengineering that emerged in different parts of the world as communities began to settle on parts of land rich in flora and fauna. 

In addition, many pioneers of the sciences and engineering throughout history have worked with biologists and physicians and have even dabbled in solving biological problems! James Watt, famous for the steam engine that powered the Industrial Revolution, embarked on his own biomedical ventures as he worked with physician Thomas Beddoes to create synthetic medical gasses to attempt to treat pneumonia. Leonardo da Vinci, the mind behind the Mona Lisa, created structures based on birds' flight, which were some of the earliest manifestations of biomimetics. 

At present, the study and applications of bioengineering are more defined, and its subfields are more pronounced. Much like other types of engineering, bioengineering is very fluid and interdisciplinary — many bioengineering subfields involve various subjects and specialties, such as biomedicine, biochemistry and biophysics, environmental health, and computer science. Thus, bioengineers, too, can specialize in one subfield of bioengineering. These specializations include, but are not limited to:

1. Biomedical engineers. Biomedical engineers are heavily involved in solving issues regarding human health and well-being. Artificial tissues and organs, gene modification, and health technologies are some of the things that biomedical engineers work on.

2. Environmental health engineers. Environmental health engineers analyze the relationship between human health and the environments humans reside in. Hygiene and sanitation, air and water quality restoration, and microbiome engineering are their bread and butter.

3. Human factors engineering. Human factors engineers work at the intersection of human psychology and physiology. They work on improving the way humans carry out tasks in complex environments, such as in clinical care settings.

A field as broad and interdisciplinary as bioengineering works in conjunction with other professions, both in the sciences and engineering. Bioengineers are at the heart of a vast and diverse network of professions, from clinical researchers and physician-scientists to agricultural professionals and civil engineers to psychologists and industrial workers. 

The future of bioengineering is a risky but promising one. With the amount of research being poured into various discoveries by many bioengineers and scientists, we are on the brink of multiple breakthroughs in health research never seen before. There are 3D bioprinters that can replicate living tissues, software that can edit our DNA, like CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats), and precision treatments, like nanorobotics, for diseases like cancer… The possibilities are endless, and it is worth appreciating how far the scientific community has come in finally blooming the once-burgeoning "what-ifs" that seemed so impossible a decade ago.