Background Content
What is biotechnology?
It is paramount that we teach students to make connections between what they see in everyday life from social media to the front-page news and what they learn in the classroom. The current group of students may be given more social and physical power than any group of students before them.4 We may choose to teach the curriculum lacking social context, trusting that the students will make these connections through self-discovery. But students imitate our behaviors and follow our lead. We must combine social issues into the curriculum by modeling social responsibility and demonstrating the need in making sense of the relationship between biological sciences and engineering technologies.
Relating biology to technology together has been around for the best part of six thousand years. The term “biotechnology” was first coined in 1919 and a UN convention of biodiversity interpreted the definition as “any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processed for specific use.5 Some major applications of biotechnology include genetic modifications in agriculture, hydroponics, animal sciences, bioengineering with food technology, biomimicry or manufacturing of sustainable materials that mimic biological systems, and biomedical technology in the development and growth of disease detection and diagnosis.
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Figure 2 Design thinking is a social technology that blends practical tools with insights into human nature.
Advantages of biotechnology
It is unmistakable that biotechnology will have an influence on everyone’s life as we approach the 21st century. Students cannot turn on a television without hearing about the impact it is having on society. From manufacturing electric vehicles to lower greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change to reducing infectious disease rates through novel genetic approaches. In order to make moral and intelligent choices regarding their daily decisions, students will need to have a basic understanding of biotechnology. Biotechnology has been around for some time. One of the oldest forms of biotechnology that exist today is wine making which includes the microorganisms used for fermentation. Beer is made using engineered strains of brewer’s yeast.6 Some other notable advantages of biotechnology include improved health through reduction of hunger by improving nutritional content of our food supply. Biotechnology improves nutritional density and cropland yields so people can still receive the same nutritional values while eating less.7 This advantage allows for flexibility within the food chain by creating crops that are naturally resistant to pests. This unit will primarily focus on the medical advancement opportunities offered through prosthetic technology, bionics, and applications of DNA origami.
[text omitted] The earliest example of a prosthesis ever discovered is a big toe that belonged to an Egyptian noblewoman. In order to wear the traditional Egyptian sandals, the big toe was exceptionally important.8 Prosthetics have advanced tremendously in the last few decades. From armored knights of the dark ages relying on iron prosthetics for hiding lost limbs to the wooden peg legs and metal hooks attributed to seafaring pirates, the students will investigate as a team about biomedical engineering and the technology of prosthetics. Prosthetics [text omitted] or pick up specific items.
Each and everyday people encounter disease, injury, or trauma that repair and regenerate body parts. These body parts can range from cells within one chamber of the heart to an entire limb like the leg or a hand. Doctors and biomedical engineers use a variety of techniques and technology to help their patients maintain the highest quality of life possible. Orthotic or prosthetic technology is a field in which artificial tissues, organs, or organ components are used to replace damaged or completely absent parts of the body.9 While many prosthetics are found outside the body, another job of biomedical engineers is to test and develop new materials that can safely be implanted onto the body.
Prosthetics
After studying the history of prosthetics, student teams create prosthetic prototypes using various ordinary materials. Each team will demonstrate their device's strength and consider its pros and cons, giving insight into the characteristics and materials biomedical engineers consider in designing artificial limbs. Two activities that will be incorporated here to spark creativity and innovation are The Alternative Limb Project and the Drinking Straw Robot Hand.
Each year, more than one million people undergo an amputation, which breaks down to one in every 30 seconds. New patients were often fitted with prosthetics that may not have been in sync with how they performed with their amputated before the surgery. “Not many researchers have taken a geometric approach to measuring the economy of how people move their bodies from one step to the next.”10 Bioengineers are now measuring how people interact with their physical environment to quantify what that person is doing. Applying both external geometric assessments, such as water immersion and circumferential measurements, and internal geometric assessments, such as the 3D volumetric imaging that is ultrasound, bioengineers can design a better prosthetic that relies on the observations, skills, and experiences of the individual prosthetists.
Biomedical engineers apply techniques using their understanding of body systems to develop devices and technologies to meet the needs of humans. When an entire arm, leg, or hip needs to be replaced doctors often look to prosthetics. Prosthetics are designed to look as much as possible like the original body part and must be made with characteristics of durability, comfort, strength, and longevity. Common prosthetic procedures include surgery of the joints at the knees and hips. Several different materials are currently used for prosthetics such as laminated fibers, willow wood, plastics, carbon-fiber composites, and metallic alloys.11 The main concern with new materials is how long they will last. Presently, hip and knee prosthetics last anywhere from ten to fifteen years. This is not favorable for young patients and researchers are looking to add things to prosthetics to help promote bone growth. In addition to the materials used, biomedical engineers also focus on the joint, connections, and sensors that the prosthesis has to the body. New technology is being developed to use small sensors, implanted in the body, that detect minute electoral changes in nearby muscles and nerves. This data is then transmitted to the prosthesis and movement is produced. This new wave of sensors is more lifelike and offers the widest range of movement for the patient.
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Figure 3 The Vitruvian Man is part work of art and part mathematical diagram, conveying that everything connects to everything else.
History of Bionics
There is a long history of amputations and, consequently, prostheses as their most instantaneous solution starting with hooks and other prosthetic replacement of the Middle Ages. Continuing to Ambroise Pare’s mechanical hand to modern robotic and bionic limbs which are the results of both technological and medical progress. Contemporary prosthesis development was enhanced because of the World Wars. First in Germany and then in the former USSR.12 The prehistory of amputations, prosthetics, and bionics dates to when the pharaohs began ruling Egypt in 3000 BC. A wooden toe that was fitted to the foot of the remains of a woman, believed to be the daughter of a high status ancient Egyptian priest, with a piece of leather is the first known prosthesis used. “The technical know-how can be seen particularly well in the mobility of the prosthetic extension and the robust structure of the belt strap. The fact that the prosthesis was made in such a laborious and meticulous manner indicates that the owner valued a natural look, aesthetics and wearing comfort and that she was able to count on highly qualified specialists to provide this.”13 Centuries passed until mechanical limbs began being used that recovered the function of the lost appendages. It was in the sixteenth century when Ambroise Pare, a French barber and surgeon, invented a prosthetic hand with a mechanism that allowed for moving fingers. Pare’s work in the battlefield laid the foundation for surgical amputations, and essential step that led to making implants. The technology of artificial limbs has been closely linked to battle with significant progress occurring after each of the major wars which prompted the development of modern prostheses made of new materials such as plastics and titanium.14
Bionics
One of the great achievements of bionics was in 1976 and the introduction of cochlear implants. For the first time it allowed a person to regain a sense of hearing. In contrast to a hearing aid, which amplifies sound, cochlear implants allowed patients whose auditory nerve works perfectly with keen deafness, due to damage to the cochlea located in the inner ear, to feel the sound.15 In 1982 another major conception of bionics was to replace the human heart with an artificial device. The basic mechanics of the artificial heart is a pump system, but the subtleties of the most important muscle meant the imitating it in a permanent way continue to be an ongoing challenge.16 The 1960s saw the inauguration of modern robotics thanks to the work of institutions like MIT and its Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Heinrich Ernst, in 1961, developed the first computer operated mechanical hand. Researchers at a hospital in Downey, California in 1963 created the first robotic arm designed to aid patients with disabilities.
Advances in human bionics may require us to rethink our concepts of what it is to be human.17 Bionics is the study of mechanical systems that functions like living organisms or parts of living organisms. The idea of using technology to build faster, stronger, and more powerful bodies have captivated the human imagination from the bumbling Inspector Gadget to the indestructible Terminator. Bionic limbs are more lifelike and constantly evolving in their form and function. There are many different types of bionic limb technology available, but the development of bionic limbs does have a long way to go before they can achieve the full range of control, motion and sensitivity of biological limbs.
History of Origami
Numerous studies argue that origami was invented by the Japanese about a thousand years ago, but its roots may well be in China because the first papermaking process was documented during the Eastern Han period. Chinese papermaking spread to the Islamic world during the 8th century where pulp and paper mills were used for papermaking and money making.18 It is also likely that the process of folding was applied to other materials before paper was invented so the origins of recreational folding may lie with leather or cloth. The practice of napkin folding, and cloth pleating were certainly held in high esteem within Europe. Nevertheless, paper has proved to be the ideal material to fold and so it is logical to assume that paper folding followed the discovery of the papermaking process.19 Earliest records indicate that origami was primarily used for ceremonial or religious reasons. Ultimately, as people became more interested in it, origami was used for artistic and decorative purposes. It is also used as a tool to teach basic principles of math and geometry.20 Principles of origami are now used in a broad variety of applications. Applying origami principles help fit large objects into a smaller shape – from the design of self-assembling robots to heart stents, to satellites – after which they can expand again.21
DNA Origami
DNA is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions for the development and function of living things. Origami is the art of paper folding. DNA origami is the art of folding DNA. We summarize the methodologies of DNA origami technology, including origami design, synthesis, functionalization and characterization. We highlight applications of origami structures in nanofabrication, nano photonics and nanoelectronics, catalysis, computation, molecular machines, bioimaging, drug delivery and biophysics. (DNA and DNA Origami Lesson)22 Students will be introduced to the idea that bioengineers can create tiny nanoscale machines that might possibly work inside the human body. Since the technique was first reported ten years ago, the field of DNA origami has grown tremendously. The students will be introduced to Paul Rothemund’s research on how DNA origami works and what has been achieved so far through YouTube videos.23
Disadvantages of biotechnology
Biotechnology does offer the world the potential of boundless advantages, but it also has its disadvantages and areas of concerns. For instance, genetic modifications in agriculture allow pathogens to create resistance to herbicides and there are unknown potential health effects on humans from foods products created through cloning. Additionally, the initial setup of a hydroponic system is expensive, and the creation of organic foods may lead to allergic reactions. Manufacturing something that mimics nature does not fundamentally make it environmentally friendly. Furthermore, hazards from software problems in biomedical technology may come to light and DNA fingerprinting privacy issues becomes a paramount concern when hacking is becoming more and more prevalent. Students will research how knowledge can easily be abused and how unintended consequences may arise from developing new technology.
Moral and ethical issues
We live at a time of escalating technological ability. Ethics compels all of us to meaningfully engage with technology and science to create a just world in which all can thrive. Our ethical considerations include a variety of stakeholders, so it is important that the general public, as well as student scientists, engage in discussion about ethical and moral issues. Ethics gives non-scientists a reason to care about complex scientific advances, and it gives scientists a reason to engage in the public square.24
Case studies will provide the students with a more relevant and deeper understanding of a complex research problem. Students will examine three ethical issues involving conducting clinical trials in developing countries, the elimination of native populations of disease carrying pests through genetic manipulation, and questions of coercion in the field of organ donations.
STEM vs STEAM
Art has a prodigious impact on society and culture around the world.25 Imagine a world without any film, literature, music, dance, or any of the innumerable other mediums that art exists through. After six years I sometimes get the side-eye when I mention that Brashear High School has a STEAM academy versus a STEM academy. The importance of art is disregarded, taken for granted, and questioned. An integral part of STEM is the “A.” Studying art contributes to the development of essential skills like communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and problem.26 A University of Florida study found that “on average, students who study the arts for 4 years in high school score 98 points higher on the SATs compared to those who study the same for half a year or less.”27 The conclusion went further and stated that “students who took up music appreciation scored 61 points higher on the verbal section and 42 points higher on the math section.”28 Integrating the arts is a no brainer for the proponents of STEAM. First and foremost, you can’t build eye popping architecture or make a jaw dropping sculpture without engineering, mathematics, and art. Case in point, automobiles are judged not only by engineering features and technology that they possess but furthermore by their aesthetic and design qualities. Critics have expressed concern that concentration in the arts may take away valuable time from STEM investigations. Among the main concerns is that adding arts to STEM programs will weaken the study of these much-needed fields. While science, technology, engineering, and mathematics have organically been linked for some time, STEAM was not [text omitted] 2005 that STEAM got its own caucus in congress and really gained momentum. [text omitted] of creativity and ingenuity because engineers have regularly integrated design into their work. However, the STEAM maker movement has worked towards sparking students’ creativity and innovation through art. Students can use both sides of their brain, creative and analytical, to become better thinkers. The application of art to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in the classroom is only the first step.
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