Hi friends in this blog I am going to explain about “Scope of Biotechnology/ Medical biotechnology” and how is can be opt after 12th exam or as an career options. Keep reading this blog “biotechnology engineering, biotech scope,medical biotechnology, mba in biotechnology and scope after biotechnology and about biotechnology courses.
The biotechnology opportunity is enormous due to an upsurge in the research and science field as we are living in the age of research where science has occupied the new form. We are at the pace of creating new applications and revolutions every day and this could be possible with merging technology and biology. Hence, youths have a lot of job choices available. Bio-technologists can work in several works of surroundings like the industrial sector, medical sector, food manufacturing and pharmaceuticals. This course delivers the knowledge to comprehend the occurrence and treatment of disease, food production, the growth of agriculture, fortification of the environment and many more.
There is no disbelief that biotechnology is a first-rated career choice owing to its active & interdisciplinary nature as it holds the key to resolve many difficulties of human society like medicine, agriculture & food security, environment and energy. Numerous students choose for the biotechnology career path subsequently after class 12. However, the problem ascends when students face difficulties finding jobs and for higher studies or research programme next after pursuing biotechnology at the undergraduate level. Several students and their parents develop idealistic potentials due to absence of information and unfamiliarity.
The fundamental biotechnology field is a hard-core research-based field and a very practical-oriented field which stresses on widespread hands-on training. The job openings in core biotechnology area exist in two main verticals as stated below:
- R&D in Biological Sciences
- Industrial Process
The hitches that the Indian students confront in the field of Biotechnology are abundant and being a student of B.Tech Biotechnology, many of my friends too encountered some of them. Because of the foremost IT age group students habitually incline to have fewer expectations in other areas like Biotechnology. Speaking to my subordinates and other colleague mates and based on my involvement, five common complications confronted by the Biotechnology students in India are as follows:-
- Unfamiliarity
Several students settle to pursue Biotechnology as the subject devoid of having a full-fledged knowledge and that is where it takes a volte-face. Ignorant of its practicality creates a lot of questionnaires in the cognizance of the students. Nevertheless the 12th class Biology book of CBSE or State boards adds a chapter of Biotechnology but there is far more to be known to the students. When I first perceived the idea of emulating, it enthralled me to a very great degree and appeared very cool. But all the conceptions and the molecular biology behind it happen to make sense when students have the subjects during their semesters. Moreover, they learnt that biotechnology was a lot more than cloning and hence finding it difficult to consent on this.
The insight that Biotechnology has no possibilities in India has been in reality for a considerable period of time. Many of my friends considering my near ones too have believed about it at least once in their degree. India is dearth behind many instruments and amenities required in a lab. But companies like Biocon have truly made their position. All doubts will start getting clarified as one get to learn about this field more and more and therefore appropriate research is required before anyone censure this field. Hence, I can confidently say that India does have spaces for Biotechnology students.
2. Remuneration packages
Once it comes to pay packages for undergraduate all of us need higher packages I recognize how vital it is. What I have been hearing from my seniors is that Biotech companies do not provide decent packages to fresher at initial stage and due to this reason students start lamenting pursuing Biotechnology as their career option. They contemplate that company operating under Government sector pay better in this field than private sector. If anyone really perform well in interviews and have a appropriate decent hold on ones fundamentals, starting salary may amaze them. It is well known that private players like GSK and Biocon do offer higher packages to biotechnologist and even to the fresher.
3. Concept of brain-drain
Considering fewer scopes of Biotechnology in India, many of students prefer for higher studies abroad and also perception of students is that doing a Ph.D. and publishing papers abroad is going to help them in reaching greater statures. Also they assume that studying abroad will help them to make their well-established career abroad. Nevertheless in India few universities and colleges are feeble in their Biotechnology curriculum; however the performance in the field has amplified over the years through their engagement in research and functioning towards making Biotechnology a commendable field in India.
4. Mathematics as a subject
Beforehand joining the course of B.Tech Biotechnology, many are not aware that Mathematics is also a prerequisite during their term. Although it may not be a big deal for many but few students who were from non-biology background had found it problematic to handle up with. Mathematics made their blood run cold and the paramount way to overcome this is through practice as it is well said that “Practice makes a man perfect”.
Financial limitations
India is a developing country and money is the precedence for many people. The educational and research institutions are not that well prepared due to which students face lots of complications. Unless one does not be eligible for competitive exams in India one cannot get admitted in a decent institute and it does not happens in majority of the cases. Education funding becomes a problem and students have to re-think about pursuing this career option.
It is true that India to some extent lacks behind in building biotechnology an emergent field but as many improvements have been coming into the light so the day is not so distant when India would stand up in this field too. As far as the problems are concerned, there is always a answer to every problem and there is continuously a light at the end of the tunnel.
Moreover, in India any technical degree from a private institute will make you to shell out INR 3 to 7 Lacs for the 4 years course. Therefore, it is really understandable that there will be frustration and disappointment among students if they do not bag a decent salary package after their Bachelors. However, this situation is pertinent to other streams of studies too in India.
According to a study made in 2016, closely 80% of engineering graduates in India are not employable and maximum of them are compulsory to take up jobs in non-engineering fields or linger unemployed.
Biotechnology is considered to be a very multifaceted field of study and necessitates intelligence, creativity and more importantly patience & perseverance. One needs to stay updated and belligerently pursue occasions to gain hands-on experience and training. For instance, in the IT sector, the existing job market wants higher levels of leading-edge skills like cloud analytics, robotics, process automation etc. and engineering graduates of the day do not always come qualified with the required skills. That is the reason where the real problem lies in the huge skills-gap.
Two major issues are accountable for these disturbing developments which are the ease of securing endorsement from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to set up engineering colleges leading to the growing of institutes many of which do not have the right faculty or the syllabus to train students and secondly the courses being taught are not in harmony with the industry’s requirements for both in manufacturing and services sectors.
Career in Biotechnology
In today’s techno-savvy age, Science and Technology transformed every nook and corner of the globe and hence, Biotechnology is also growing ubiquitously. In the Biotechnology field, biosciences and technology influence living organisms as well as the biological system to create products which are very valuable for mankind. This course is entirely associated to food, agriculture, healthcare, environmental, pharmacy, etc. Moreover, it is related to R&D in biological science and Industrial Procedures which are mostly used in private and government laboratories. There is also the Industrial procedure that works on Vaccination techniques and Drugs. Considering the same, students can select a career in biotechnology, which is a good and job oriented option for the individual.
Biotechnology Jobs
After finishing the course in biotech, one needs not to be concerned regarding the job outlook as they can get a job in private sectors like biotech specialists, safety experts, biologists, research analyst or scientific writers. The foremost companies in the private segment are chemical firms, food processing companies, biotech firms, and pharmaceutical companies. Moreover, there are job prospects in government sectors as well. Graduate Students also have countless choices in research and development, government laboratory, centres and institutes, bioprocessing companies, government universities and colleges along with government-owned pharmaceuticals companies. On completion of the course, students can be employed as follows:
- Clinical Research Manager
- Scientific Assistant
- Research Analyst
- Calibration Technician and
- Biostatistician
Apart from above, there are many organizations that offer decent job opportunities in the field of:
- Waste Management
- Food Processing
- Drug and pharmaceutical
- Chemicals
- Energy
- Bioprocessing
- DBT Department of Government institutions and organizations
- Agriculture Institutes
These institutes offer jobs with the finest salary in the private sector. Drug manufacturing companies also offer biotech professionals an exciting salary package. Moreover, there is also opportunity in the field of textile, health care, environment, etc. One can even take a specialization in one or more sub-fields like genomics, proteomics, and bioinformatics which improve the chance of setting secure career roots in the field.
Additional Job Opportunities
Specialists can work in many organizations under the following positions also:
- Medical Scientists
- Biological Technician
- Biomedical Engineers
- Microbiologists
- Epidemiologists
- R&D and Process Development Scientists
- Bio manufacturing Specialists
- Bio Production Operators
- Medical and Clinical Lab Technologists and Technician
Salary for biotechnologists
Several factors affect the salary package of professionals and are as follows:
- Institute from which a person has finished the course
- Specialization one has completed
- The field he/she has preferred
- Job Location
A run-of-the-mill starting salary ranges from INR 10k to 20k per month and it varies in case of a government job. With the 4 years’ experience, the student can earn up to Rs. 3, 11, 000 per annum and can earn up to Rs. 8,70,000 per annum with gaining of experience.
Who is a Biotechnologist?
Biotechnologists work as an assistant of scientists and researchers in the laboratories studying about living organisms, new drugs and its cures, improving quality and output in agriculture etc. They held several trials in the private and government laboratories. A Biotechnologist can work in various industries of food manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare and pharmaceuticals and are employed as biochemists, biophysicists/ medical scientists responsible for cleaning, sterilizing laboratory equipment and further analyse recordings and gather test results.
Top Companies which appoint Biotechnologists
- Biocon
- Panacea Biotech
- Rasi seeds
- Serum Institute of India
- Machyo Monsanto Biotech
- Novo Nordisk
- Indian Immunological
- Venkateshwara Hatcheries
- Ranbaxy
- Dr. Reddy’s Lab
- Primal Healthcare
- Aventis
- Indian Immunological
Top Research Institutes for Biotechnologists
Underneath mentioned is the list of Institutions which are involved in biotechnology research in India. A student has to pass the strict worthiness criteria as well as a selection procedure for getting admission to such research institution.
- Department of Science and Technology (DST)
- Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
- Indian Council Of Medical Research
- Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)
- Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR)
- Defence Research Development Organization (DRDO)
- Indian Institution of Science
- Biotechn Consortium of India Ltd (BCIL)
- Placement Companies for Biotechnologists
As China fights to comprehend an epidemic caused by a new coronavirus, science is contesting to develop inoculations to dull the outbreak’s impact. Crucial to this determination is CEPI in Oslo, a Norway-based Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations which is a global partnership created to lead the development of vaccines in just such type of emergency.
It is noteworthy that two weeks after China proclaimed on Jan 2020 that a new coronavirus had exploded a fast-growing outbreak of pneumonia cases in the city of Wuhan, CEPI broadcasted funding for three effort to develop a vaccine to protect against the virus, currently known as 2019-nCoV or Covid-19. A week later to that it added a fourth effort and just days after that, it announced major vaccine manufacturer GSK would allow its copyrighted adjuvants which is the compounds that boost the efficiency of vaccines which is to be used in the rejoinder.
As on date, most of the CEPI-funded exertions are focussed on associates who do not have the production conveniences to make a marketable product in bulk quantities for which they have include Inovio which is a partnership between Moderna and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; CureVac; as well as the University of Queensland, in Australia. All use inventive methods that offer the potential of unparalleled speed to the development of a vaccine candidate but none of the companies has yet licensed a vaccine as on date.
