2008 Courses & Clusters
Everyone knows that we cannot live without blood. Without blood, our organs could not get the oxygen and nutrients they need to survive, we could not keep warm or cool off, we could not fight infections, and we could not get rid of our own waste products. In this cluster, we will explore how bioengineering can be used to study the structure and function of Red Blood Cells, which provide the vital transport of oxygen and carbon dioxide through the body. Bioengineering, one of the youngest engineering disciplines, employs the principles and tools of traditional engineering fields, such as mechanical, structural, material, electrical, and chemical engineering, to solve biomedical problems.
Students will learn the theory behind molecular and cell biology techniques and will use these techniques to answer basic questions in Red Blood Cell biology. Lectures will be complemented with interactive labs in which each team of students must solve a challenge proposed by the instructor.
Students will also learn how tensegrity (a novel approach from structural and control engineering) can be used to model the Red Blood Cell membrane and other dynamic structures. Students will also explore the deformability of Red Blood Cells and its relationship with health and disease. Finally, students will build a physical and a computational model of the Red Blood Cell membrane skeleton using the tensegrity paradigm that mimics its amazing flexibility and deploy ability. Prerequisite:
One year of biology.
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