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Human Life Science Engineering
Mia Bondesen 2nd semester 21 years
Human life science engineering focuses on learning about the body and its various mechanisms
and how we can influence them either by functional foods or by medicine.
It’s really interesting to discover which various food components are healthy
—for example, why carrots are healthier than wine gums.
Casper Enghuus 6th semester 24 years
I’m taking everything—chemistry and biology, experimental and theoretical studies,
I have independent projects, I work with researchers and industry—it gives me the chance to try it all, really.
Irene Kouskoumvekaki Head of Studies Human Life Science Engineering
As a technical human life science engineering student, you get to learn both how to conduct research
into better pharmaceuticals and foodstuffs and how to produce them.
You can help by developing new, better medicines.
For example, pharmaceutical drugs that are customized for individual use
and have fewer side effects than those available today.
This is important for us all, giving us healthier foods that can help us get well or cure us when we’re ill.
Kristine Weirum DTU graduate (2011) Development Scientist Chr. Hansen A/S
I work for Chr. Hansen in the Health and Nutrition division.
I work in the innovation department, where our main focus is developing products based on lactic acid bacteria.
The reason I find my work meaningful is that we produce lactic acid bacteria for formula for babies who aren’t breast-fed.
Non-breastfed children don’t have the same bacterial flora in their digestive system as breastfed children.
So these babies urgently need lactic acid bacteria to help them quickly build up their immune defence mechanisms.
My dream is to develop products that will actually help the world population.
Today I’ve had an organic chemistry class where we looked at various biomolecules and amino acids and their structure.
It’s interesting because we learn how the various molecules react inside the body and how to make them
react in certain ways, and we get an understanding of how the various bodily mechanisms actually work.
I studied biotechnology at upper secondary school, which triggered my interest in biomolecules and enzymes and how they work.
Functional foods and pharmaceutical development seemed really exciting.
I don’t feel I have to go out and save the whole world, but I would like to be involved in developing products
that make a healthy lifestyle easier.
Through my work—for example—I can find a protein that I can use to make a pharmaceutical product,
and I can do it really fast and efficiently.
I can use it to identify proteins that can help produce these pharmaceuticals
and open up opportunities for sustainable production.
It’s really cool working with something you know will help create a sustainable future
—maybe even reducing the use of dangerous chemicals and enabling the use of sustainable biological cells instead.
Once I’ve finished my studies, I’d like to do research and continue exploring how we can improve on nature.
I really enjoy studying at DTU and I think we’ve had a wonderful start to the programme.
There are always other students to talk to. There’s always a party somewhere at DTU. If you want a party, you’ll find one!