<p>What are the main differences between biological and biomedical engineering? The most common explanation I've heard is that, in the case of an amputee, biomed would try to engineer a good synthetic replacement limb while while bio would aim to grow the subject a new limb. However - any elabloration? What are the different applications of and the best schools for each?</p>
<p>BME is more the application of other traditional engineering fields such as mechanical and electrical engineering to biological problems. BE is more about using biological and chemical processes to solve biological problems.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Biomedical engineering is a pretty fluid definition - originally it was mostly EE stuff, then biomechanics. Now it is tending more toward the biomolecular and thus becoming similar to BE. "Biological Engineering" is a term that people coined as a new engineering discipline which would have biology as its foundation (in the same way that ChemE has chemistry, etc.). There are already people in this field using biology with applications in nanotechnology and electronics; in the future, biology may be applied toward manufacturing other non-medical products.</p>
<p>There are two forces in the naming conventions of engineering fields: naming after the form of applied science, and naming after the area of application. </p>
<p>Classic examples of engineering fields whose names derive from the form of applied science are Electrical (applying our understanding of electromagnetism), Mechanical (applying our understanding of classical and statistical mechanics), and Chemical (this is a bit more dubious, but applying our understanding of chemistry). </p>
<p>Classic examples of engineering fields named after their applications are Civil (there is no "civil science"; rather, civil engineers work on problems facing society, often dealing with things we see as "public goods"), and Industrial (again, there is no "industrial science"; industrial engineers try to solve problems in very loosely defined "industrial" settings).</p>
<p>So the difference between the bioengineering and biomedical engineering naming conventions can be seen as something as a conflict between these two forces. "Bioengineering" implies applying our understanding of biology to solve engineering problems (e.g., through biomimicry, DNA computers, etc.), while "Biomedical engineering' implies using engineering techniques to solve problems in biomedicine (e.g., genomics, pharmacology, artificial tissues, etc.). </p>
<p>Of course, none of the above is applied consistently or meaningfully. In truth the biggest determinator of whether a school calls something "bioengineering" as opposed to "biomedical engieering" seems to be the amount of influence the medical school, biology department/division, and engineering school each have on the program.</p>