Careers in Biotechnology – List of various options

Posted: Published on April 7th, 2015

This post was added by Dr P. Richardson

Various biotechnology careers include forensic DNA analyst, scientist, clinical research associate job, laboratory assistant, microbiologist, greenhouse and field technician, bioinformatics specialist, animal caretaker and many more.

CareerBliss.com conducted a survey to find out what are 10 happiest professions in America. Conclusions were made after 200.000 people working 70.000 different jobs were interviewed. A lot of things were taken under consideration: how much people appreciate their daily tasks, bosses, co-workers, salary, company culture and reputationAll examined subjects ranked how investigated factors correlate with their overall satisfaction. Salary wasn't most important factor for employees happiness. Type of a daily jobs, control over work done and relationship with colleagues were considered most important. Career that combines all necessary factors to make people enjoy time spent in their offices (laboratories) is career in biotechnology!

Biotechnology is combining knowledge about life and living organisms with modern technology to create new systems, devices, materials, foodthat could improve human life and help preserve environment. Most biotechnology products are associated with agriculture, food industry and medicine, and logically - careers in those fields are most popular.

A list of careers in biotech is long; here are few that sound really interesting:

Laboratory Assistant

Scientific laboratory could perform different kind of research, but as a laboratory assistant your main duties will be sampling, measuring, collecting and analyzing investigated data Maintenance of laboratory equipment such as centrifuges, titrators, pipetting machinesis also one of the tasks. Laboratory tests and strict methodology are very important especially when hazardous material is under investigation. Besides using typical lab equipment in work computational analysis of given data is also important. High quality laboratory work is necessary for later research and development stages.

Greenhouse and Field Technician

Modern agricultural research is dealing with new, genetically modified plants. As a greenhouse and field technician, youll be in charge for planting seeds, pollinating plants, applying fertilizers and pesticides. Special attention to the problems that may arise (pest, disease) is extremely important as those are genetically modified organisms. Basic knowledge of equipment used in everyday work as well as computer knowledge is also very important for this position.

Forensic DNA Analyst

This position is usually associated with crime laboratories where DNA analysis is performed to solve legal issues. Urine, saliva, blood, semen, hairthose are the samples that could be used for DNA analysis. After sample collection, DNA is extracted and analyzed using couple methods (PCR, electrophoresis). Final results are further compared with the already known DNA profiles. Methodology is strict: properly collected and stored evidence, documentation on technical laboratory details and well written final reports are essential for successful prosecution. Depending on the laboratory size, employees could be more or less specialized.

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Careers in Biotechnology - List of various options

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