You probably know that cancer research is routinely done by biologists, but you might be surprised to learn that engineers increasingly contribute to our understanding and treatment of this disease.
Here are some examples:
- Cancer cells migrate through the body to take root in distant organs. These cells have to survive the
“flowing river” of a blood vessel and to break through the wall of that blood vessel. Why do some cells survive this journey and others don’t? Bioengineers study the sheer forces and other physical dimensions of this migration in the hopes of preventing metastases.
Cancer is unbelievably complex and multidimensional. We increasingly think of the ecosystems of cancer – from the cellular level to the individual level to the population level. No single academic discipline has the ability to understand it all. I think it’s terrific that engineers and other physical scientists are applying their creative thought and sophisticated toolboxes to the cancer world.
Reprinted with permission of the Ithaca Journal.
Original publication date: April 15, 2017
Bob Riter is the Executive Director of the Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes. He can be reached at [email protected]