BME 3010 - Cellular Principles of Biomedical Engineering

Fall. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

Prerequisite: BIOMG 1350 and BME 2010, or BIOG 1440 and BIOG 1445, or BIOMG 3300 and MATH 2930, or permission of instructor. Enrollment preference given to: BME majors.

S.D. Archer, M. Saikia.

This course will provide students a fundamental understanding of cellular systems essential for engineering effective biomedical applications. The course comprises of three modules.

Module 1 will discuss the principles of engineering, biology, chemistry, and mathematics that govern cell survival, growth, and propagation. Specifically, students will learn the mathematical models of cell growth, pathways involved in cell signaling, cell cycle, and circadian rhythms, and application of cellular functions and properties in biomedical applications such as bioreactors. Additionally, students will perform mammalian cell culture and create growth curves in the laboratory.
Module 2 will discuss how cells organize into multicellular tissue and organs within the human body. Characteristics of different cell types found within human body will be analyzed with special emphasis on stem cells and their application in tissue engineering.
Module 3 will discuss how cells react to environmental stimuli such as infection and injury. This module will also discuss interaction of living systems (cells) with non- living systems (implants) focusing on blood material interaction processes such as coagulation and transplant rejections. In the laboratory students will explore stimulus driven immune cell migration.