The term biotechnology refers to anything that we may have manipulated with biology. This is a simple explanation but it's the most effective. We've been using this field for years to enhance our crops, modify our food, make new medicines, and even perform genetic engineering. This may sound like science fiction but it's been done for over 20 years in North America.
There are many positions in this field as it covers many subfields in many industries. There is always an ever present need for qualified technicians to build and repair any equipment in all aspects of the industry. Being good with computers or other hardware can land you a solid job here. However there is also an ever growing need for skilled scientists and lab workers.
These are the people that spend their days working on computers and doing experiments to figure out what methods work and what methods don't. These biotech jobs are perhaps the most taxing as future developments in any of the supplemental fields depend on them. Biotechnology jobs depend on other industries for support just as much as these other industries depend on biotechnology.
Of course all of this theorizing and design would be useless without any practical field data and physical results. This leads to the need for field agents and field technicians to go out and appraise the state of current projects. This can range from checking outdoor sensors and environmental quality monitors to observing a new heard of genetically modified cattle. Genetic modification is vital to being able to produce enough food for our burgeoning populations.
While growth hormones can be introduced to increase size and mass of cattle and other sources of meat they often have side effects. Genetic modification alters the DNA of the cattle to grow larger naturally, though we are some ways off from doing it in mass. Modifying the DNA of an animal is a bit harder than modifying the DNA of a plant. Considering that most of the world is dependant on wheat as a primary food source this aspect has the highest priority.
Modifying crops to increase their yield, be more weather resistant, and even resist certain diseases that attack them have long been goals of farmers all over the world for centuries. Only with the advent of modern technology have we now been able to see this dream as a reality. The end goal is to be able to feed the people of the world using as little crop land as possible.
Biotech jobs are essential to life on our planet as we continue to grow. Unfortunately space is running out and the number of hungry mouths to feed is increasingly. Fortunately biotechnology jobs offer a solution and can be a very rewarding career to invest in. It may not sound exciting modifying crops and medicines, but they are the backbone of our race and you'll be making a difference.
