Traditionally, scientists and engineers have distinct jobs: while scientists experiment and discover, engineers design and build. But this distinction no longer stands today, and engineers participate in the scientific process of discovery in many ways. This is particularly true since the advent of technologies for high-throughput data acquisition in fields such as genomics and neuroscience, that allow studying the structure, function, growth and chemistry of living systems with unprecedented resolution. New mathematical and computing methods may contribute to a better understanding of the complexity and dynamics of living systems.

The time has come for reverse engineering biological systems: in the century ahead, engineers will be essential contributors for understanding many unanswered questions in biology.