Introduction to Bioengineering (Engineering Living Matter)

Catalog description

Students completing BIOE 80 should have a working understanding for how to approach the systematic engineering of living systems to benefit all people and the planet. Our main goals are (1) to help students learn ways of thinking about engineering living matter and (2) to empower students to explore the broader ramifications of engineering life. Specific concepts and skills covered include but are not limited to: capacities of natural life on Earth; scope of the existing human-directed bioeconomy; deconstructing complicated problems; reaction & diffusion systems; microbial human anatomy; conceptualizing the engineering of biology; how atoms can be organized to make molecules; how to print DNA from scratch; programming genetic sensors, logic, & actuators; biology beyond molecules (photons, electrons, etc.); constraints limiting what life can do; and possible health challenges in 2030. And we explore questions like, how does what we want shape bioengineering, and who should choose and realize various competing bioengineering futures? Interested students should complete an enrollment survey to obtain an enrollment code which can be accessed here: https://forms.gle/NfxnunnG5gUnHoi49