BE Board:Dinner Discussion/The Next 20 years of Course 20

In this dinner discussion, we will discuss how Course 20 may evolve over the next 20 years. Your moderators at the table will be Sri Kosuri and Ben Zeskind.

Historical Perspective

from MIT Biology History page:

In 1936 a committee composed of MIT President Karl T. Compton, Vice President Vannevar Bush,
and Professor John W. M. Bunker proposed that MIT develop a new type of biology--biological
engineering--which would utilize basic knowledge of physics, mathematics, and chemistry, as
well as several fields of engineering... Training in public health was abandoned in 1942 and
the department name was changed to the Department of Biology and Biological Engineering (the
name was changed back in 1994).

In 1939, Compton & Bunker published a paper in the Scientific Monthly titled The Genesis of a Curriculum in Biological Engineering.

Interesting Quotes

Definition of Engineering:

Impacts on Society

1. Medicine: prevent, diagnose, cure disease; first pharma, then biotech, then ???
2. Economy: companies started by graduates, economic impact of discoveries, changes to healthcare economics, effect on research funding
3. Science: better understanding of biological processes, better tools to study (measure, model, manipulate) biological processes
4. Society: ethical/legal/social issues raised by advances
5. Government: changes in operation of FDA/regulatory agencies, NIH

Impacts on MIT

1. MIT: effect of undergrad major, expansion of space