To Lab Or Not To Lab? The Essential Guide To
Biotech Research Career And Jobs.
Author: Paul I. Etkin

One of my friends, a former community college student at the
school at the same time I was working there, has decided to go
into biotech research. She is technologically confident and at
the same time is fascinated with and good at working with the
environment, and hopes to make some important contributions to
our area (Northern California). So what does it mean to do
biotech research? What does it take to get into the field of
biotechnology? And how much dough can you make?

Biotech research can involve anything in the life sciences,
from 'human health and computational disease mapping to crop
and tree improvements,' as those studies are done by students
at the Biotech Research Center at Michigan Tech, from
'forensics, [the] testing of biotoxins, and management of the
nation's organ transplantation process' to 'drug development,
medical diagnostics, biomedical engineering, and environmental
analysis,' such as those done at Virginia Biotechnology
Research Park, or from biogenetic engineering, farming, or
nutritional assessment and engineering to toxicology,
biomedical imaging and engineering, or food, drug, and
environmental technologies, as conducted by University of
California Biotechnology Research and Education Program (UC
BREP).

How much a person in biotech research makes depends on what
funding the biotech research facilities are backed by. At the
Biotech Research Center at Michigan Tech, for instance, funding
is at $8.3 million, provided by such organizations as the
U.S.Department of Energy (DOE), the National Science Foundation
(NSF), the National Institute of Health (NIH), and the U.S. Drug
Administration (USDA).

At the same time, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's
Bureau of Labor Statistics, the biotech research engineers (as
well as the biomedical engineer) make an average of $48,503
with a bachelor's degree and around $59,667 with a master's
degree.

But will the jobs in biotech research be there when my friend
and you finish your degrees. Well, again according to the U.S.
Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, the
projection for job growth in the field of biotech research in
particular but biotechnological engineering in general looks
good through 2014, with the growth 'much faster than average.

This, BLS declares, will be attributed to the aging of the
population, the increased focus on health issues, and the
demand for 'better medical biomedical engineers.' Because of
the sensitive interest in biotech research and biomedicine,
more degrees are granted in these fields or area sand
hopefully, more grants are awarded.


About The Author: Luke T. Axton provides readers with
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