'Engineering to biology' and 'biology to engineering': The bi-directional connection between engineering and biology in biological engineering design

Biological Engineering, the engineering discipline that connects engineering and biology, encompasses both 'connecting engineering to biology' and 'connecting biology to engineering' in its engineering design process. The first directional case of connecting engineering to biology' pertains to the application of the engineering design process to regulate and manipulate a given biological system for the purpose of achieving a desired end. The second directional case of 'connecting biology to engineering' pertains to employing the knowledge of the attributes of biological systems to inform or guide the engineering design of a physical system for the purpose of achieving a desired end. For 'connecting engineering to biology,' the object of the design process is a biological system and its design factors are limited by physicochemical principles. Contrastively, for 'connecting biology to engineering,' the object of the design process is a physical system and its design factors are limited by biological attributes. The first case of 'connecting engineering to biology' addresses the design of: (1) protocol for biological system; (2) structure for biological system; and (3) model for biological system. The second case of 'connecting biology to engineering' addresses the design of: (4) material based on biological system; (5) machine/device based on biological system; and (6) instrument based on biological system.