BioengineeringTechnology

Bioengineering Technologies

Transportation Technologies

Communication Technologies

Manufacturing Technologies

Construction Technologies

Bioengineering Technologies

Explore the production of mechanical devices, products, biological substances, and organisms

to improve health and/or contribute improvements to our daily lives.

Bioengineering Technologies Include: Medical (Adaptive/Assistive Devices)

Agricultural/Food (Irradiation, Integrated Pest Management, GM Foods)

Biofuels

Bioengineering in MedicineUses:

Help prevent illnesses and injuries

Diagnose diseases and injuries

Treat illnesses and injuries

Examples:

Adaptive and Assistive Devices

Medicines and Vaccines

Surgical Techniques

Diagnostic Equipment

Internal replacement body parts

Adaptive and Assistive Devices

Technologies that are used to improve or enhance the lives of people with disabilities or conditions that make daily tasks difficult.

Examples of assistive devices include: prosthetic devices (artificial body parts), wheelchairs, eyeglasses/contacts, grab bars, hearing aids, braces, handicap ramps, etc.

Other Medical Technologies Medicines and Vaccines- Created to help fight and

prevent disease. Often originally derived from plants.

Surgical Techniques- engineers are continually redesigning surgical equipment and techniques to become less invasive so patients can heal more quickly. For example, robotic surgery is becoming more routine because it can be more precise.

Diagnostic equipment- provides doctors with information about a patient’s condition and general health.

Internal replacement body parts- can be mechanical, electronic or organic (living organs). Ex. pacemakers, heart valves, hip and knee joints, etc.

Agricultural/Food Bioengineering

Bioengineering practices have been used in our food production to:

1. improve the nutrition of our food,

2. increase crop yields

3. increase the health and safety associated with our food

There are many bioengineering practices in Agriculture, such as irradiation, integrated pest management and genetically modified (GM) foods.

Each practice has positive and negative consequences associated with it, which need to be considered.

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Agricultural/Food Bioengineering cont.

Practice Pros Cons

Irradiation- exposing food to low level radiation.

-Prevent spoilage-Increase shelf life-Kill microorganisms-increases food safety

-Doesn’t kill viruses-Controversial because of the use of raditiation

Integrated Pest Management- Control of pests with minimal use of pesticides.

-Increase food safety by reducing chemical exposure

-Sometimes these methods are not as effective at pest management- Can be more costly

Genetically Modified Food- foods that have been modified in a lab to enhance the properties of the food.

- Increase resistance to disease-Increase nutritional value-Increase food supply

-Unintended unknown effects-Safety concerns-Raises ethical questions-Costly

Bioengineering and Energy We currently rely heavily on fossil fuels for energy,

but they are likely to run out.

Biofuels- an alternative energy source. They are solid, liquid, or gaseous fuels that are composed of organic matter, most typically plant material.

Corn and soybeans are two commonly used plants to make biofuels.

What are some positive and negative aspects about the use of biofuels?

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