When I became a biochemical/biomedical engineer some 50 years ago, the focus was on human applications. This was long before genetic engineering, CRISPR, and the like existed in the scientific/technological domain.
So, the definition of bioengineering has been expanded to improve disease prevention and treatment, agricultural production, energy sustainability, consumer products, sustainability, and much more. It is prognosticated that bioengineering will yield an economic impact between $ 2 and $ 4 trillion ANNUALLY from 2030 to 2040. That ain’t chicken feed!
The speed of advancement is also breathtaking. Consider that we had viable inoculations against COVID-19 with weeks of its onset. A polio vaccine took nearly a decade. Time frames are being compressed.
We are beginning to classify these biological development into four areas. Biomolecules (measuring, engineering, and mapping of biological molecules); Biosystems (cell, tissues, organ engineering); Biomachines (interface between biology and machines), and Biocomputing (measurement of neural signals, store data using DNA, etc.)
Yet, it seems that most of the new innovations will be outside the health care sector. We will be developing new ways to breed animals and plants- much quicker than the selective breeding techniques, we’ve been using in the past. This also includes lab grown meat (cultivated meat) and microbiomes.
When we say consumer services, we mean beauty and personal care, genetic testing, and innovated approaches to wellness. (Not new tissue boxes!) And, then there’s new materials- those produced by fermentation, new forms of energy storage and the like.
But, it’s not clear sailing. After all, scientific research is needed to move an idea (or a new application) from the idea to feasibility. And, then, there’s the issue of commercialization. (Will the new product be lower cost, higher quality or have new properties? How will these new technologies fit our existing (or soon-to-be-developed) marketing strategies.
So, while there’s lots of promise in the bioengineering sector, it will depend on th developments and societal acceptance of these changes.
Exciting times.
