Peter Cestrone

10/3/2015
UWRT-1102
Inquiry 1102
Biomedical engineering is defined as a way to improve human health by integrating
engineering techniques with knowledge of biology and medicine. It has improved peoples
quality of life by designing and innovating new ways to advance the medical field. One example
of a biomedical engineering is three-dimensional printing. It can be done in a variety of ways,
each of which beings with a computer aided design or CAD for short. After the design is
complete it is uploaded to a 3-D printer. Once the design has been received by the printer the
machine begins printing the design. The printer uses melted materials to create the design in
multiple layers. Once the layers are compiled in a specific sequence the design can be completed.
Using this technique there have been advancements in the medical field. One such advancement
is printing prosthetics. A prosthetic is an artificial body part or organ used to help people without
it to function normally. The medical field is changing everyday with the introduction of new
advancements. Advancements are crucial when it comes to medicine because the population
keeps growing, and it becomes more difficult to treat every disablement within the endlessly
growing population. An example of how the growing population causes difficulty for the medical
field is that birth rates keep getting higher, which increases the chances of children being born
without limbs. As a result, prosthetics are becoming increasingly demanded. My question to
inquire into this community is, how has biomedical engineering and research shaped the world as
we know it?

After researching how biomedical engineering has impacted the world I found that one of
the most promising things being developed are prosthetics. My research has consisted of multiple
online sources and books. Doing this research has lead me to an actual question that has some
interest to me. I am personally majoring in mechanical engineering with a focus in biomedical
engineering at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Naturally biomedical advancements
and problems interest me. First let me give you a little background of what Biomedical Engineers
actually do. A Biomedical Engineer designs and occasionally creates replacement body parts
artificially such as, limbs and organs, and also designs machines that aid in diagnosing medical
conditions (What Do Biomedical Engineers Do?). For example the MRI machine or an EKG.
MRI stands for magnetic resonance imaging, which is used to diagnose problems in the body. An
EKG stands for electrocardiogram, which helps diagnose problems with the heart. My curiosity
of how these designs have shaped the world is what drives me to inquire into this field.

The discourse community I have chosen is the biomedical engineering community. This
is because it is of the most interest to me. After researching into this community I have come up
with an inquiry question of, how has biomedical engineering and research shaped the world as
we know it? My research up to this point was strictly online, however; for my future research I
plan on using online resources and academic books as resources to find an answer to my
question. Through the research process I discuss what ways the biomedical industry has shaped
the world today.

After completing my research to further discuss this topic, more background needs to be
talked about. For example the basic purpose of the biomedical industry is the development of
preventive treatments and cures for disease, injuries, or illnesses (Loffler and Stern). Also this
industry is comprised of a few different but related segments. One of these segments are
pharmaceuticals, which are drugs that people can be prescribed by doctors to treat specific
symptoms or illnesses. A term associated with this segment that will be discussed is tolerance.
Tolerance is when someone repeatedly takes a drug and their body becomes immune to the
drugs effects at the current dosage. This causes some to start taking more and more of the drug
because their body keeps becoming tolerant of the amount they take. This causes a huge problem
in our society because as a persons tolerance increases so does the likely hood of an overdose.
Another segment is biotech, which can be thought of as using biological processes and genetic
manipulation for benefit of industry and the general public. A third segment related to the
biomedical industry is medical technology. This can be defined as a device that can be used for
diagnostic, prevention, or treatment purposes of certain conditions that need attention. Each of
the segments I have defined deserves a further look into with respect to the biomedical industry.

The pharmaceutical segment can be discussed from the both a good and bad point of
view. There are so many great things that have stemmed from pharmaceutical research that are
fascinating to discuss. When talking about the pharmaceutical segment of the biomedical
industry there are certain things to discuss that cannot be avoided like. Why is the
pharmaceutical industry growing so rapidly, or why do people have such a negative opinion of
the pharmaceutical segment?

Personally I believe that the industry is growing so fast because the population of the
world just keeps getting bigger and as the population gets bigger more cases of disease and
illness will occur. This alone causes the need for more pharmaceutical development because the
ever growing population correlates to a faster antibiotic resistant strain of infection to mutate,
and also the number of cases of people suffering from disease and illness will increase as the
population increases. Also in my opinion I think that some people realize that the development of
pharmaceuticals is for the purpose of improving the general health of the public. I think that the
people who develop these drugs do want what is best for people, and the pharmaceutical
companies push so hard for the development of these drugs to help those in need. When it comes
down to it there are numerous accounts of people with mental disorders like schizophrenia and
other illnesses like pneumonia that require these drugs to live normal day to day lives. Without
some of these medications people could die of minor illnesses and those suffering from
psychological illness would be a danger to our society.

Even though there is a lot of good that has come from the development of
pharmaceuticals, there are a few suggestions that make me ask the question of why do people
have such a negative opinion of pharmaceuticals? Pharmaceuticals have been used for centuries,
but not until recently have people been discussing the negative effects of the drugs to the human
body. For starters drugs like Ibuprofens and Tylenol can damage your liver and kidneys and these
drugs can be bought over the counter and people consume them for tiny problems like a little
headache (Is Big Pharma Evil?). As people keep taking these drugs day and day out they will
develop a tolerance to them and think they need to take more to get rid of a headache and end up
overdosing on something that is an over the counter drug. The fact that people can easily

overdose on these simple over the counter drugs cause people to stop trusting the pharmaceutical
companies because these companies allow these dangerous drugs to be so easily purchased.

Another negative controversy involving pharmaceuticals is the availability of prescription

drugs such as pain killers and antidepressants. When it comes to prescription drugs I believe that
there are two major problems lying here. One is the fact that they are drastically more expensive
and without insurance can cost around six-hundred and fifty dollars for ninety pills (Is Big
Pharma Evil?). That is over seven dollars per pill. When using these prescriptions they often
recommend taking two or more pills at multiple times a day which will drain your supply and
you will need to get new prescriptions filled and spend more money on these pills. Another
problem with prescription drugs is the abuse that occurs daily. These drugs can cause addiction
and psychological dependence. Most people believe that prescription drugs are safe because they
were prescribed by a certified doctor. This is not the case in some instances. It does not take long
to develop an addiction to any drug and become dependent on it. From personal experience I can
attest to how addicting some of these drugs can be. When I was a junior in high school I had
gotten my wisdom teeth removed and the doctors prescribed my a pain killer known as
oxycodone. This is a heavy duty painkiller that I took for the pain from the surgery for about
three or four days. The first day I stopped taking this pain killer I noticed that I had this intense
headache that would not go away no matter what I did. This is the first sign of drug withdrawal.
So I took another pill that was prescribed to me and the pain subsided. After this I realized that
my body had already developed an addiction to this drug within four days, and I immediately
stopped taking the drug and threw the rest away. I believe that this is how most people end up
getting addicted to prescription drugs. There are multiple cases of people lying to doctors to

write them new prescriptions for painkillers and the prescription almost always gets refilled
without a second thought. In this lies the second problem with prescription drugs. People keep
finding new ways to get these drugs and use them day in and day out abusing the purpose of
these drugs causing addiction and in most cases overdosing or causing liver and kidney failure.

The Pharmaceutical segment of the biomedical industry has shaped the world for the
better in my opinion. Even though most pharmaceutical companies want to make a profit more
than help someone. I believe that the world is better off now than it would have been without this
segment because the benefits far outweigh the negatives. This is because the world today
experiences less disease and the life expectancy all around the world has increased since the
development of pharmaceuticals. Sure the negatives can result in some severe consequences, but
those are usually the fault of the individual taking the drugs and the benefits help save lives
every day. Knowing what I know now I have one question for the pharmaceutical industry. Do
you actually care about the peoples lives you are affecting or is all about the money?

In the biomedical industry biotechnology has also played a role in shaping the world.
When discussing biotechnology I believe that you can look at it from both the pros and the cons.
In the biotech industry the main focus is on altering genetics and using the processes that occur
in nature for industrial purpose. To discuss this there is a term that needs to be brought to light.
This term is genetically modified organisms. A genetically modified organism is an organism that
had a foreign gene implanted inside of it for improvement (What Is a GMO). Most GMOs are
plants and some are animals.

Most people eat GMOs every day, whether it is from a home cooked meal or from eating
out at a restaurant. After researching about genetically modified organisms I believe the main
purpose is to increase production and prevent the destruction or decay of food sources. I think
that this is very important due to the fact the population all over the world is constantly
increasing at a higher rate every year. If this continues the world will eventually run out food
sources and the farmers will not be able to keep up with the demand. This will cause food
scarcity and eventually the number of people who will starve to death will increase. Bringing to
light this sad reality and trying to fix it is what I think biotechnology is all about. Using
biotechnology allows scientists to extract genes that can be transplanted into crops and livestock
to help them grow faster and be more insect resistant. This helps farmers to meet the demands of
the growing population and helps them to have a higher yield so that they are not wasting crops
due to insects.

On the other hand there are reports I have read that have evidence that these GMOs are
not good for people to eat and can cause health problems later on down the road. Also there are
people talking about how the practice of GMOs can be used to create genetically modified
babies, which poses an ethical dilemma. First I want to talk about eating GMOs. GMOs can be
unhealthy to eat and can cause things like organ damage, gastrointestinal disorders, and infertility
(Smith). GMOs can also harm the environment (Smith). These GMOs can harm wild animals,
amphibians, soil organisms, and even ecosystems causing a reduction in bio-diversity (Smith). I
believe this happens all over and increasingly becomes a problem. There is evidence that GMOs
can reduce habitats for wildlife, which causes populations of wildlife to decrease. This is not

good for life on earth in my opinion because as one thing dies off so will others because it
disrupts the food chain.

The last issue with GMOs is the attempt to use it on human babies. Tampering with
things that are not natural has always brought about unanticipated consequences in my opinion.
Altering somethings genetic structure could cause harmful mutations to happen resulting in death
and dismemberment. When I read about scientists trying to alter the course of life of a human
baby while it is still an embryo I get repulsed. I do not believe that we as humans have the right
to try and change the outcome of a natural process like human birth. If we change this process it
is like we are trying to Play God. This also in my opinion takes away a childs ability to be
different from everybody else and it is not like the child can say they want to be genetically
modified while it is in the womb of its mother. This is wrong ethically because changing the
course of a life is almost like taking away lifes free will and trying to predetermine what that life
is going to do. After researching this I want to know why this is not being stopped and outlawed
across the world.

I believe that the most important innovation of the biomedical industry in shaping the
world today is the development of medical devices. I have always been fascinated with this field
ever since I was a little boy. This is probably the reason I think so highly of this field, but as I
researched medical devices further I was shocked with what I found. Medical devices date all the
way back to the 13th century (Milestones in Medical Technology). To me this shows how
impactful they are to the world. Medical devices are amazing and can do so much to help the
quality of life of people. Medical devices are fascinating as to what they can do and how

different they can be. A medical device can range from a magnifying glass to an artificial liver. I
think that medical devices are the future in the biomedical industry. Since I began researching
these devices I want to know how they work and how they are developed. I also want to know
the thought process behind those that create such marvels of the medical world. I have one
question that I want to know above all in this segment and that is, why have medical devices
have been so impactful verses the other segments of the biomedical industry?

In my opinion the biomedical industry has given the world hope for a better future.
Without all of these innovations from pharmaceuticals, biotechnologies, and medical devices,
humans would be struggling to survive daily life. I think it is because this industry has greatly
changed the quality of life around the world and has given those in poor countries hope that they
will survive longer. The hope this industry provides give the world meaning. That meaning to me
is to help people, and to make the quality of life better and better.

Works Cited
Bakalar, Nicholas, et al. Milestones in Medical Technology. Health. Nicholas Bakalar, Karen
Barrow, Jon Huang, Diantha Parker/The New York Times, 10 Oct. 2012 3 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/10/05/health/digital-doctor.html>.

Is big Pharma evil? Debate.org. 10 Sept. 2013. 3 Nov. 2015. <http://www.debate.org/opinions/isbig-pharma-evil>.

Loffler, Alicia, and Scott Stern. THE FUTURE OF THE BIOMEDICAL INDUSTRY IN AN ERA OF
GLOBALIZATION. N.p.: NYSE Group, 13 Feb. 2006. 3 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/biotech/faculty/articles/future_biomedical_industry.pd
f>.

Smith, Jeffrey. 10 reasons to avoid GMOs. Institute for Responsible Technology, 25 Aug. 2011. 3
Nov. 2015. <http://responsibletechnology.org/10-reasons-to-avoid-gmos/>.

Top pharmaceuticals: Introduction: EMERGENCE OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE AND

INDUSTRY: 1870-1930. Chemical and Engineering News. 2005. 3 Nov. 2015.
<https://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/83/8325/8325emergence.html>.

What do biomedical engineers do? The Catholic University of America. 11 Dec. 2012. 3 Nov.
2015. <http://biomedical.cua.edu/overview/whatdo.cfm>.

What is a GMO. n.d. 3 Nov. 2015. <http://www.bt.ucsd.edu/gmo.html>.