One way to bridge such a gulf is to have a meeting and invite interested members from each discipline to attend--which is exactly what has recently happened. "Research Opportunities in Biomolecular Engineering: The Interface Between Chemical Engineering and Biology" was convened in Washington, D.C., on December 7-8, under the auspices of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). Says George Georgiou, a chemical engineer at the University of Texas, Austin, who co- chaired the meeting: "The idea of the meeting, in my mind, was to make more people aware of the interface that already exists and attract them to work at that interface and to build momentum for federal support of this work."
Georgiou, for instance, has crossed the disciplinary barrier to collaborate with UT microbiologist Charles Earhart as well as fellow chemical engineer Joseph Francisco. Together they have produced Escherichia coli bacteria that instead of excreting proteins--as is ...
