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Biotechnology scientists manipulate living organisms for practical applications, from brewing to genetics. Jobs are shifting towards applying genetics in various ways, including food development, cleaning products, and eradicating inherited diseases. Biotechnology scientists are well-educated, often with a PhD and hands-on experience. The field has various approaches, including studying existing organisms, solving problems, and irradiating microorganisms for commercial use.
Biotechnology is generally defined as the science of dealing with practical applications for living organisms, and a biotechnology scientist works in this field. This includes a wide range of applications, from using yeast in brewing to manipulating genes in plants and animals. The field is broad, but jobs are shifting from more traditional areas to applying genetics in a variety of ways. Traditionally, a biotechnology scientist applies the principles of selective breeding to domesticated plants and animals.
Selective breeding has been practiced for many years, but the application of very specific genetic knowledge is relatively new and well within the realm of what a biotechnology scientist does. By some estimates, around 70% of the products in a modern supermarket are based on biotechnology in one way or another. Depending on the industry, a biotechnology scientist may work on a variety of food development or enhancement processes. The foods involved can include things as diverse as cheese, canola oil, and wine.
In addition, a biotech scientist can work on many different projects, such as developing ways to help with cleaning clothes, developing safer climbing ropes, or creating improved home pregnancy tests. A biotechnology scientist may be involved with genetics in an effort to understand and eradicate inherited diseases, possibly providing genetic counseling to prospective parents. Other tasks might involve cloning plants or animals, transferring genes from one living organism to another, or other similar tasks.
Typically, a biotechnology scientist spends many years going to school and is usually very well educated, usually at the doctoral level. Many biotechnology jobs require not only a PhD, but also two or more years of hands-on experience in the field. The job often involves partnering with a group of scientists, requiring the ability to work well with others; in many cases, knowledge of computer programming is also required.
There are several approaches to the field of biotechnology. One approach is simply to study what already exists and see what can be learned, while another is to find ways to solve existing problems, such as looking for cures for genetic and other inherited diseases. A third method used in some circumstances is to irradiate various microorganisms and then investigate the resulting mutations to see if anything useful develops. If that happens, the microorganism can be developed for commercial applications.
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