Bioconvergence

Bioconvergence is a multidisciplinary approach in life sciences that combines the disciplines of biotechnology, engineering, and computing to address complex challenges.

[2] Research by McKinsey & Company indicates that the majority of bioconvergence's potential uses fall outside the healthcare sector, in areas like agriculture, aquaculture, consumer products, novel materials, chemistry, and energy.

[3] Bioconvergence uses methods from various disciplines such as biology, engineering, medicine, agriculture, computational sciences and artificial intelligence (AI), in order to solve challenges across several sectors.

Bioconvergence technologies in healthcare may include translational medicine, enabling the extraction of new insights from massive data sets; neuromorphic computing, which seeks to emulate the biological neural structure of the brain to increase processing performance and energy efficiency; creation of digital twins for clinical trials; and biochips such as an "organ on a chip" (OOC).

[4] Other potential implications of bioconvergence include new methods of using nanorobotics for drug delivery, regenerative medicine, diagnostics and biological sensors, optogenetics, bioelectronics, engineered "living" materials, and more.

[12] Also in May 2022, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and Soroka Medical Center announced a strategic collaboration for the development of novel technologies in the field of bioconvergence.

A lung on a chip, close up
A lung on a chip, close up
A vertical farm, with four rows of plants visible on either side
A vertical farm in Finland