bioengineering

Bioengineering is the practice of applying engineering principles to biological systems to develop technologies and processes that improve health, industry, agriculture, and the environment. It combines biology with chemical, mechanical, electrical, and materials engineering, as well as computer science, to design devices, therapies, and production methods that interact with living matter. In many contexts, bioengineering and biomedical engineering are closely related, with bioengineering often used to denote a broader scope that includes nonmedical applications.

Historically, bioengineering emerged in the 20th century from fermentation technology and medical device development, expanding with recombinant DNA techniques in the 1970s, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine in the late 20th century, and genome editing and synthetic biology in the 2000s–2020s. The field now spans multiple subdisciplines, including biomaterials, tissue engineering, bioprocess engineering, genetic engineering, synthetic biology, biosensors, and computational biology.

Applications range from medical devices, prosthetics, and artificial organs to targeted drug delivery, gene therapy, and regenerative medicine. In industry, bioprocessing enables production of pharmaceuticals, enzymes, and biofuels. Environmental applications include bioremediation and waste treatment, while agriculture sees advances in crop protection and yield improvement using engineered organisms and biosensors.

Key methods include cell culture, scaffold design and biomaterials, genome and protein engineering, bioprocess optimization, and computational modeling. Ethical and regulatory considerations address biosafety, bioethics, access, and equitable distribution of benefits, guiding research, trials, and commercialization. Education typically combines engineering curricula with biology and life sciences.