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Discovery Engineering and Applied Science

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This Biological Engineering program supports cross-cutting science and engineering projects that advance the development of broadly applicable biomedical technologies based on biomaterials and engineered biology that directly interface with, monitor, and regulate biological processes and functions of human physiology to enable new paradigms of human health

Emphasis

The development of biomedical technologies and models and methods (i.e., engineering tools and approaches to accelerate the development of biomaterials-based and biology-based technologies) are multi-disciplinary by nature. This program encompasses a variety of projects that involve many facets of discovery engineering and/or applied science.

Projects might focus on:

  • elucidating important engineering design rules or key foundational principles underlying future engineering
  • redesigning or prototyping platform technologies
  • characterizing (in vitro, ex vivo, or in vivo) broadly applicable technologies and prototypes

Major Programmatic Interests

Biointerfacial Technologies – technologies that operate at the interface of abiotic materials and biological systems

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Biomimetic Technologies – technologies that recapitulate life/living processes found in biological systems

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Biomolecular Technologies – technologies based on subcellular components

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Cellular Technologies – technologies based on single cell systems

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Cellular and Subcellular Technologies

Multicellular Technologies – technologies based on systems of interacting cells

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Nanotechnologies – technologies that operate at the nano-scale

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Related News

Science Highlights
March 5, 2025

Engineered tissues could one day do the work of traditional electrical stimulation devices while offering more customizable and biologically friendly solutions.

Science Highlights
February 26, 2025

In a preclinical study, NIBIB researchers found that bone marrow transplants to treat sickle cell disease early in life may lower risk of stroke into adulthood.

NIBIB in the News
February 24, 2025

Two heads are better than one, as the saying goes, and sometimes two instruments, ingeniously recombined, can accomplish feats that neither could have done on its own. For the first time, a hybrid microscope born at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), allows scientists to simultaneously image the full 3D orientation and position of an ensemble of molecules, such as labeled proteins inside cells.  Source: Marine Biological Laboratory at the University of Chicago.

NIBIB in the News
February 10, 2025

Rice University bioengineers have created a groundbreaking construction kit for designing custom sense-and-respond circuits in human cells. Published in Science, this research marks a significant advancement in synthetic biology, with the potential to transform treatments for complex diseases such as cancer and autoimmune disorders. Source: SciTech Daily

NIBIB in the News
January 6, 2025

Rice University bioengineers have developed a new construction kit for building custom sense-and-respond circuits in human cells. The research, published in the journal Science, represents a major breakthrough in the field of synthetic biology that could revolutionize therapies for complex conditions like autoimmune disease and cancer. Source: Rice University News & Media Relations