Scope of Biotechnology: Understanding Various Specializations & Career Opportunities

25 Jun 2020

Biotechnology is a field that revolves around utilizing the biological systems with technology to develop a product or a process. The outcomes of biotechnology help in addressing many problems across many industries. Interdisciplinary nature of biotechnology results in numerous products and technologies. The sphere of biotechnology includes medical biotechnology, pharmaceutical biotechnology, plant biotechnology, cellular biotechnology, fermentation biotechnology, food biotechnology, environmental biotechnology, and bioinformatics.

Medical Biotechnology

Medical Biotechnology implies the application of biotechnology in the field of healthcare sector. The Healthcare sector is powered by biotechnology companies that always play a major role, be it in developing diagnostic kits, vaccines, biologics, drugs or medical machinery. The domains of biotechnology like molecular biology, cell biology, recombinant technology, and immunotherapeutic succored in the evolution of the medical sector.

Career Opportunities in Medical Biotechnology:

There are many career opportunities available in Research and Development, Pharmaceutical Companies, Hospitals, Diagnostic Centres, Manufacturing Sector of Biotechnology, Academic Sector for students who want to make a career in Medical Biotechnology:

Job Profiles for Graduates in Medical Biotechnology:

Clinical Laboratory Technician
Biological Supplier Manufacturing
Environmental Technician
Food Safety Mechanism
Pharmaceutical Research Technician

Pharmaceutical biotechnology

Earlier this field only dealt with discovering and developing small molecules (drug) but time has witnessed the evolution of this industry. The horizon of this sector widened. Emergence of Biopharmaceutics has brought a new dimension. Biotechnology was always a part of drug development and discovery, but biologics as therapeutic elements resulted in the surge of biotech companies involved in the pharmaceutical industry. Cell-based therapies, monoclonal antibodies, vaccines and other therapeutics are a few examples to start with

Also Read:- What is Bioinformatics, scope and career opportunity in it

Job Profiles of a Pharmaceutical Biotechnologist

Medical Scientist
Chemical Engineer
Biological Technician
Chemical Technician

Plant biotechnology

Plants are a vital source of many raw materials and food on earth. Human dependency on the plants is not a new fact. Biotechnology helps to bring the best of it. Agriculture has witnessed many problems like low crop yield, crop quality deterioration, infestation, weeds, loss of soil fertility, abiotic stress and biotic stress. Genetically Modified Crops (GMC) ensued from genetic engineering helped in developing abiotic stress resistant, biotic stress resistant crops and also improved crop quality. BT cotton is a common example of an insect resistant plant. Flavr Tomato crop (quality improved crop) is an outcome of recombinant technology.

Job Profiles of a Plant Biotechnologist

Greenhouse or field Technician
Laboratory Assistant
Genomics Technician
Molecular Biology Technician
Plant tissue Culture Technician
Research Associate
Lecturer
Trainer
Research Investigator
Project Assistant

Food Biotechnology

The increasing human population is proportional to the demand of food. Food biotechnology surmounts the difficulties in food production, food processing and food preservation. Biotechnology brings out the alternate sources of food. The best examples are the single cell proteins derived from various microorganisms and development of value-added food products. Biotechnology always helps in introducing technology which aims to enhance the production, processing, packaging and preservation of food. The scope of biotechnology in this field is limitless.

Employment Sector for Food Biotechnologists

Storage Units
Research Units
Laboratories
Food and Beverage Department
Food Marketing
Processing and Distributing Units

Job Profiles of a Food Biotechnologist

Quality Manager
Food Technologist
Regulatory Affairs Officer
Technical Brewer
Chefs
Nutritional Therapist
Product Development Scientist

Environment Biotechnology

Environment biotechnology aims to restore the balance between nature, ecology and human interest. Bioremediation and biological intervention is only possible by the way of utilization of techniques of biotechnology. Waste management of plastic has been a question mark ever since its discovery. Oil spills, accumulation of heavy metals in natural sources of water and soil are few major issues. All these issues are now being addressed by using biotech processes. Microbes like bacteria, fungi algae and plants are being used in the process of bioremediation. One can say that biotechnology is indispensable to the environment and human kind

Job Profiles of an Environmental Biotechnologist

Environmental Science and Protection Technician
Environmental Scientist
Agricultural Engineer
Sustainability Specialist
Environmental Engineer

Bioinformatics

The necessity of interpretation, analysis and visualization of biological data gave rise to new interdisciplinary field- Bioinformatics. Till the time study of the biological system will exist, bioinformatics will run parallel to it.

Top Job Profiles in Bioinformatics