Biotechnology in one form or another has flourished since prehistoric times. When the first human beings realized that they could plant their own crops and breed their own animals, they learned to use biotechnology. The discovery that fruit juices fermented into wine or that milk could be converted into cheese or yogurt, or that beer could be made by fermenting solutions of malt and hops began the study of biotechnology. When the first bakers found that they could make soft, spongy bread rather than a firm, thin cracker, they were acting as fledgling biotechnologists. The first animal breeders, realizing that different physical traits could be either magnified or lost by mating appropriate pairs of animals, engaged in the manipulations of biotechnology.
Biotechnology is that branch of science that makes use of living organisms and their products to modify human health and the human environment. Prehistoric biotechnologists did this as they used yeast cells to raise bread dough and to ferment alcoholic beverages, and bacterial cells to make cheeses and yogurts and as they bred their strong, productive animals to make even stronger and more productive offspring.
It is mainly a research based field with lots of scope for research in the areas of medicine, agriculture, pharmaceuticals etc. A biotechnologist also can work in a pharmaceutical company which can engage him for research work or development of new drugs based on the principals of biotechnology. There is also scope for him in the field of marketing of biotechnological products.
The area of research is very lucrative as there is lot of public funding available nowadays. Also a biotechnologist can earn good money from the patency rights of various products and processes. In the area of medicine and health, biotechnology is being used to improve the diagnosis methods, discover and develop new medicines for diseases like AIDS, cancer etc. A variety of new vaccines are also being developed for diseases which are now cause of concern in the world over e.g. some of the viral infections prevalent in tropical countries.
They also find opportunities in the field of agriculture and animal husbandry where one can work on the improvement of agricultural output using tissue culture, checking the soil imbalance, improving the animal species using genetic breeding. Research is also on to develop environmentally friendly biochemical and bio-insecticides. Besides this a biotechnologist can give authentication and do the testing of consumable items and skin products. They can even become a bio-statistician which is a very demanding and lucrative career these days.
Another area which is fast emerging and has an important role to play in biotechnology is the field of legal characterization and formulations of law pertaining to Intellectual property rights, Patents and Patency law, copyrights etc of biotechnological products. Hence a lawyer with an understanding of biotechnology and having a specialization in this field would be in great demand in the years to come.
Other prospective career options for bio-technologists are: environment/safety specialist, production in-charge in the food, chemical and pharmaceutical industry, quality control officers, medical nanotechnologists, research scientist. One can pursue law for further studies which when clubbed with bio-technology gives way to career openings in the corporate and biotechnological companies where they get employed as legal advisors.
Biotechnology being a multidisciplinary subject, it is best to pursue a cross disciplinary education. Students can opt for diverse subjects keeping in mind the area of bio-technology they wish to pursue later on. For e.g., one can choose computers and life sciences if they wish to take up bio-informatics as their field of work.
Companies like Glaxo Smith Kline, Hindustan Unilever, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratory, Reliance, Tata engineering research institute, Zeneca, Fortis, Cephalon, etc are a few to name that hires these professionals.
Jobs available in Biotechnology:
In Communications/media - reporting, writing, editing; In Computers - data base development, bioinformatics etc; Drugs and Pharmaceutical companies; Engineering -working in bioprocess chambers, Instrumentation development, Fermentation technology; Research; Waste management, bio-monitoring bodies and pollution control boards; Medicine - The medical genetics, genetic counseling, gene therapy and gene testing uses biotechnological tools; Energy Institutes; Food processing industry; Bio-processing industry e.g. enzyme technology, paper technology, metabolic engineering, protein engineering etc; Agriculture and animal husbandry; Legal field involving issues related to intellectual property rights, patency, copyrights related to the field of biotechnology and Defense.
The starting salary for a biotechnology engineer falls between Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 23,000 depending on the branch of specialized study, knowledge and skill-set.
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