Terry M. Bella
People have the internet in their front pocket, or more likely, right in front of their face as they text a friend. Unfortunately, though we think we are well informed and knowledgeable about important topics like disease prevention often we are not. Our students are not. They have likely heard about more complex issues, drug trials, rare diseases, and genetic disorders because of the internet, but that does not substitute for understanding. Even more seriously, they do not have instruction in school about how to navigate the bombardment of campaigns about health and hygiene. Students need a more comprehensive understanding about vaccinations, the immune system, and disease to make informed decisions about their lives. Unfortunately the campaigns to promote major public issues like vaccines are easily usurped by a single voice because the nature of the internet being a public realm and of course because of social media. The implications of being misinformed and uneducated are dire.
As educators we need to reframe an understanding of the human immune system to students. We must inform students about how diseases are transmitted, how they can protect themselves, and how their decisions affect other people and themselves for years to come. As educators, we must go beyond basic textbook instruction about how the immune system functions. It is important for students to realize that public health issues such as disease can be remedied through engineering. Engineering not just as it relates to the production of new medicines, but also how it relates to targeted corrections and re-engineering of our immune systems to cure diseases.
