Assignment 1: BE

Similar to Dr. Bogen, this is the very first time I have experienced blogging. I never thought I could call myself a blogger, but it could be a good learning experience to see what other students have to think about Bioengineering.

i) I am not 100% sure why I chose to major in Bioengineering. All throughout high school you think about the career you'd like to pursue based off what subjects you enjoyed learning about the most. I definitely was intrigued by Biology, taking the class both my sophomore and senior year. In addition to being fascinated by functions of cells, tissues, and organs I also discovered that I have passion for helping people with various problems. Combining both of these aspects I came to the conclusion of possibly studying pre-med. Sometimes I ask myself why I didn't just major in biology or something less enduring, but maybe I just like to challenge myself and see what I am able to create when mentally pushed to my limit.


ii) Even after deciding to choose bioengineering as my major, I still am unsure what bio engineers actually do in their career. With a little online research before beginning school I discovered that a student with a degree in bioengineering is able to do multiple things upon graduating. But I believe that bio engineers use technology in order to provide solutions for current health related issues, in addition to using techniques to improve the quality of those with medical problems.


iii) If I were able to go back in time and help design and create a prominent biomedical device, I would be a part of the development of the pacemaker. The pacemaker was constructed in order to help regulate and control abnormal heart rhythms. A pacemaker is able to help an individual with irregular heart rhythms lead a more active lifestyle. Generating this device would be very important to me because I am an athlete here at Penn and have been playing sports all my life. As a result, I definitely encourage people to lead active lifestyles and participate in physical activities. Maintaining an adequate heart beat would allow those confined by heart problems be able to become active once more.


iv) Having minimal background on the subject of bioengineering, there are a lot of topics within this field that I have no knowledge about. Therefore I would enjoy learning anything about this subject so that I have a better understanding of what type of problems bio engineers deal with and if this is something I would actually like to pursue as a career. However I am most interested in genetics and DNA, so I would enjoy learning about how bio engineers modify and manipulate DNA in order treat genetic diseases.



v) Once bio engineers establish an innovative technological idea, what steps are taken toward constructing the device so it will be able to be effective? What type of material should be used? What is the appropriate size of the system? I want to know how difficult it can be to transfer a thought from paper to an actual model. In addition I would like to learn how to build simple biological technology or at least be able to look at piece of technology and know a general idea of how it was assembled.

vi) http://http//www.bio-pro.de/medtech/news/index.html?lang=en&artikelid=/artikel/04162/index.html
The following biomedical news article discusses the introduction of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). The pluriptent cells are created through skin cells and may be able to be differentiated into specialized cells, similar to the qualites of embryonic stem cells. Most recently, Dr. Utikal of Mannheim University Hospital has succeeded in manipulating genes in order to significantly increase the rate of iPS production. The most interesting feature of the article explains the benefits and advantages of iPS cells. iPS cells are obtained without the destruction of embryos, which eliminates any ethical constraints that were evident in embryonic cells. Without the limitations of moral concerns, I believe scientist will be able to research and develop this technology more efficiently and in a brief time period as well. This is exciting news for those in the science world because it shows a positive step toward the advancement of cell replacement therapy.

vii) Another aspect of bioengineering that I find interesting is interaction of living systems and engineered devices. In order to produce effective materials it is important to first understand the systems within the organism and how the organism will react as a result of the application. I probably find this topic the most stimulating because of my interest in the medical field. But I look forward to learning all elements presented in bioengineering.