Q. What is Biotechnology?
Ans. Biotechnology is an interdisciplinary field that combines biological sciences with engineering to manoeuvre biological systems to manufacture products that advances healthcare, medicine, agriculture, food, pharmaceuticals and environment control. Biotechnology is a amalgamation of R&D in Biological Sciences and Industrial Processes. The biological sciences aspect deals with research and development in areas such as Biochemistry, Genetic Engineering, Microbiology, Cell biology, Bioinformatics, Molecular Biology etc. for understanding the cause, incidence and treatment of diseases, agricultural development, food production, protection of the environment and many more. Iteration of success in biotechnology can be seen in genomic sequencing technology, advances in disease diagnosis and developments in stem cells technology.
Q. What is the relevance of B.Sc. Biotechnology?
Ans. A B.Sc. degree focuses on the biological sciences aspect of Biotechnology. The emphasis is given on R&D in biological sciences fields such as Biochemistry, Plant and Animal Biotechnology, Microbiology and Microbial Genetics along with industry orienting subjects like Bioprocess Engineering, Industrial Microbiology, Pharmaceutical Biotechnology to name a few. If you want to pursue a career in areas such as Agricultural Biotechnology, Stem Cells, Genetic Engineering, Plant Biotechnology etc. choose B.Sc. Biotechnology and M.Sc. in any specialized field of Biotechnology. You can later on pursue your Ph.D. for an illustrious career.
Q. What is the Scope of Biotechnology for B.Sc. students?
Ans. If you are passionate about improving the quality of people’s lives through research, then this field will fit you perfectly. The job opportunities for B.Sc. graduates is in a highly research oriented field such as Immunology, Agricultural Biotechnology, Stem Cells, Genetic Engineering, Plant Biotechnology, Molecular Biology etc. choose M.Sc. in Biotechnology. However, most students tend to pursue their MSc in Biotechnology or a specialized discipline of biotechnology. India is renowned to host admirable MSc programs such as IITs, JNU, DU, IISc, TIFR, BHU etc. With an MSc degree, most students tend to work in research labs and industries as research assistants.
Q. Is it mandatory to have biology in 12th for opting B.Sc. Biotechnology?
Ans. No, it is not mandatory. Students from both biology and mathematics background can opt for B.Sc. Biotechnology.
Q. What are the industries/institutes that can be targeted for jobs/higher studies in India in biotechnology sector?
Ans. The Indian government has set up numerous research institutions of national repute conducting research in Cancer Biology, Stem Cells, Genetic Engineering, Biomedical Sciences etc. Following is an example of the leading industries/institutes in the field of biotechnology Pharmaceuticals: Biocon, IFGL Bioceramics Limited, Orbees medical, Invitrogen, Glaxosmithkline, Reliance life sciences, CTS life sciences, Dr.Reddy’s labs, Cipla, Jubilant life sciences, Wockhardt, Torrent pharma, Cadila healthcare and Ranbaxy.
Universities and research institutions: IISc, TIFR, IITs, IISERs, NISER, NITs, NIPERs and IISERs.
Research institution: Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, RRCAT (Indore), multiple CSIR research labs including Center for Cell and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), CSIR - Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB), National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), National Brain Research Centre (NBRC) , National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), National Chemical Laboratories (NCL), National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology ( RGCB), Institute of Microbial Technology (CSIR-IMTech) ,National Institute of Immunology (NII) etc.