Overview

Health & Medicine focuses on technical challenges relevant to the well-being of humans, non-human animals, and populations. Applications of engineering biology in this sector focus on preventing and eradicating disease and supporting longevity and quality of life. For related reading about tools and technologies that impact human and animal health, please see Environmental Biotechnology and Food & Agriculture.

Societal Challenges & Science/Engineering Aims

Eradicate existing and emerging infectious diseases.

These Science and Engineering Aims are designed to help overcome the identified Societal Challenge:

• Mitigate the threat of microbial (non-viral) pathogens.

• Diagnose and treat viral infections.

• Develop new and better vaccines, other prophylactic tools, and production pipelines.

• Develop better population-scale surveillance methods for emerging infectious diseases and create technologies to rapidly address outbreaks and epidemics in real time.

Address non-communicable diseases and disorders.

These Science and Engineering Aims are designed to help overcome the identified Societal Challenge:

• Measure molecular markers of disease.

• Generate new drug therapies.

• Develop and hone genetic engineering/gene therapies.

• Advance engineered cell systems (including the human microbiome and immune system), organs, and tissues to manage and treat disease and disease outcomes.

Address environmental threats to health, including toxins, pollution, accidents, radiation, exposure, and injury.

These Science and Engineering Aims are designed to help overcome the identified Societal Challenge:

• Integrate (bio)materials and living tissues to address injuries and navigate dangerous environments.

• Develop systems to detect, identify, reverse, neutralize, and clear biochemical damage.

Promote equitable access to healthcare, patient representation in research, democratization of medicine, and the development of personalized medicines.

These Science and Engineering Aims are designed to help overcome the identified Societal Challenge:

• Develop patient-specific testbeds for drug treatments to support patient representation and personalized medicine.

• Make cutting-edge therapy more available and affordable.

Footnotes

Regarding non-communicable diseases and disorders, we consider the advancement engineering biology tools and technologies to address cancer, addiction, obesity, neurodegenerative diseases, aging-related disorders, psychiatric disorders, heart disease, diabetes, and other genetic disorders and lifestyle diseases.