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Unit of study_

BMET3962: Introduction to Mechanobiology

2025 unit information

This course introduces you to Mechanobiology an emerging field of science that integrates biology and engineering and is now considered to have significant influence on the development of technologies for regenerative medicine. It is well known that tissues and cells are sensitive to their mechanical environment and changes to this environment can affect the physiological and pathophysiological processes. Understanding the mechanisms by which biological cells sense and respond to mechanical signals can lead to the development of novel treatments and therapies for a variety of diseases. The student will gain fundamental insights to the topics related to intracellular network, mechanotransduction, nanomechanical tools in mechanobiology, ECM mechanics and artificial matrix platforms and application of mechanobiology in various pathophysiological processes. The course has a strong practical component to have hands on experience in developing artificial matrix with various mechanical properties, stem cell culture, cell differentiation, staining and imaging.

Unit details and rules

Managing faculty or University school:

Engineering

Study level Undergraduate
Academic unit Biomedical Engineering
Credit points 6
Prerequisites:
? 
BMET2901 or MEDS1002 or MEDS2XXX or ANAT2XXX or PHSI2XXX or MEDS2XXX
Corequisites:
? 
None
Prohibitions:
? 
AMME5962 or BMET5962 or BMET9962
Assumed knowledge:
? 
6 credit points of 1000-level biology, 6 credit points of 1000-level chemistry and 6 credit points of 2000-level physiology or equivalent

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

  • LO1. Demonstrate effective oral communications skills, understand research questions, and critically analyze and interpret data
  • LO2. Obtain information using appropriate search strategies to gain in-depth knowledge and current advances in mechanobiology through peer-reviewed research resources
  • LO3. Understand the basic principles of mechanobiology and its importance in the field of biomedical engineering and regenerative medicine.
  • LO4. Apply and integrate engineering principles to biological processes. Utilizing biomedical devices to understand the principles of mechanobiology.
  • LO5. Understand the use of engineering technologies and analytical tools in the field of mechanobiology, applications and design of biomaterial platforms in the field of mechanobiology
  • LO6. Demonstrate the procedure for working safely, correctly, and effectively in a molecular biology laboratory. Learn and demonstrate a range of practical techniques in molecular biology, stem cell culture and differentiation, develop biomaterial platforms to understand the principles of mechanobiology. Demonstrate a collaborative experimental work, effective data acquisition, analysis, imaging, data recording and experimental report writing.

Unit availability

This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.

The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.

Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Semester 2 2024
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Semester 2 2025
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Outline unavailable
Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Semester 2 2022
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Semester 2 2022
Normal day Remote
Semester 2 2023
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

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Modes of attendance (MoA)

This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.