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 Biotechnology
is not a new term; we all come across the phenomenon in
our day-to-day life. Yogurt, cheese, bread - Biotechnology
is at work in all these cases. Since ancient time man has
been making use of micro organic plant and animal cells to
produce food, medicine and chemicals. Yeast, a product of
biotechnology, was in use since ages to brew beer and make
wine and bread. Instances like this are plenty. May be at
that time man was not aware of the term "biotechnology".
Of late, biotechnology is being touted as the next
boom after IT. Well, what does this term mean? The term biotechnology
refers to a mechanism of harnessing the natural chemical process
of living organism to our advantage and use.
 A
primary aim of modern biotechnology is to make a living
cell perform a specific useful task in a predictable and controllable
way. The task could be to ferment sugar, to make alcohol,
or produce a substance that makes flowers red, or a chemical
that will help fight a bacterial infection.
Raed A.A. Sabha of National First Grade College opines
"Biotechnology is a highly interdisciplinary subject,
which combines elements of biology, mathematics, physics,
chemistry with computers and electronics."
Karnataka's government is planning to lead the next 'revolution'
after IT in biotechnology and is aiming to make Bangalore
the 'Biotech City of Asia'.
Some of the areas where biotechnology can be used are
human health, plant and animal agriculture, food production,
waste management, fuels and so on.
More
on Biotechnology
The courses offered
Syllabus
offered in Bangalore University
 Till
recently most students preferred to do a course in biotechnology
from universities abroad. There were hardly any options in
India. But now, Bangalore University has developed a syllabus
for biotechnology and many colleges in Bangalore have
started offering biotechnology courses to the students.
There is an option of doing B.Sc. or B.Tech
in biotechnology. Most of the courses are a combination
of Engineering subjects and biology. The biological subjects
include Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Genetics, Immunology,
Microbiology, Bio-informatics etc. Process Dynamics, Bio-reactor
Design, Fluid Mechanics and Process Technology are the
Engineering subjects. The latest course in this field is Bio-informatics,
a combination of biology and IT. A postgraduate degree in
Bio-informatics is the most sought after degree in foreign
countries. With this P.G. degree, you may earn a salary of
Rs.15000-30000 per month or if employed abroad, you can earn
in dollars.
Eligibility criteria/skills
For getting admission in a B.Sc./ B.Tech. biotechnology
course one must pass class XIIth with biology / mathematics,
physics and chemistry. There is an entrance exam for a
B.Tech course. The All India Entrance Exam is conducted
by Jawaharlal Nehru University at various centres in
the country. To succeed in this field you need to have an
aptitude for research and development. You should be able
to work hard and you need to have a logical and analytical
mind.
Careers in Biotechnology
Some institutes offer industry-oriented subjects like Drugs
& Pharmaceutical Technology, Aqua-culture and Marine Biotechnology,
Animal Cell Culture, Plant Tissue Culture etc. as electives.
Once you have post graduated with such subjects you can join
the pharmaceutical industry or fertilizer and chemical companies,
especially in the R & D department or the quality control
department. There are companies like SPIC, Godrej which
have a separate biotechnology division. (B.Tech degree is
usually preferred). The starting salary in such divisions
is between Rs.4000-6000. If you have done a course in agricultural
biotechnology you can get a job as a research fellow and
work towards improving the yield, taste and quality of crops.
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