BME 6501 - Natural Engineering: Developmental Biology Paradigms for Regenerative Medicine

(crosslisted)
(also VTBMS 6501)

Spring. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

Enrollment limited to: graduate students. Next offered 2014-2015.

J. T. Butcher.

This course is in two modules. The first module (1 credit) covers the embryonic development and fetal maturation of several major organ systems, including lung, heart, vascular, and bone from an engineer’s perspective (evolutionary conservation, major signaling pathways involved, etc). The second module (2 credits) builds upon the first module by highlighting engineering approaches to study developmental biology (e.g., systems biology, mechanical testing, micro-environmental control, genetic manipulation, tissue engineering). The module also identifies relationships between developmental biology and postnatal disease, as well as explore developmental biology-based approaches for regenerative medicine (directed stem cell differentiation, mechanical conditioning, matrix based differentiation, etc.). Material is drawn largely from primary literature. Students have regular manuscript reviews, two midterms, and a final project analyzing the natural engineering of a different organ system.