Industry: Medical/Technology
What is Biotechnology?
Biotechnology is an interdisciplinary branch of science involving the use of living systems and organisms to develop or make products. Biotechnology harnesses living systems (cellular and biomolecular processes) to develop technologies and products which help improve our lives and the planet’s health. The advent of biotechnology has expanded into diverse sciences like immunology, virology and other subjects like health, agriculture, cell biology, plant physiology, seed technology, etc.
Job Description
- Responsibilities of a biotechnologist include creating, conducting and monitoring experiments using live organisms/biomolecular processes to solve problems, improve processes and develop new products
- Performing data analysis on experiments and interpreting findings to support scientific investigations
- Collecting, studying and testing samples such as food, cells, tissues, blood samples, bacteria cultures and living organisms
- Designing and implementing research studies and identifying how the research can be applied to improve human life
Eligibility and Courses
Class 12
Science stream with physics, chemistry and biology as core subjects.
Under Graduate Courses
- B.Tech. in Biotechnology
- B.Sc. in Biotechnology
Career Profiles
Top 5 Institutes for Biotechnology courses
1. National Institute of Technology (NIT) Warangal
Value for Money- 4.7/5
Bachelor Courses- B.Tech. in Biotechnology
Tenure- 4 years
Website: https://www.nitw.ac.in/
2. Vellore Institute of Technology
Value for Money- 4.5/5
Bachelor Courses- Integrated M.Sc. in Biotechnology
Tenure- 5 years
Website: https://vit.ac.in/
3. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur
Value for Money- 4.3/5
Bachelor Courses- B.Tech. (Hons.) in Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering
Tenure- 4 years
Website: https://www.nitw.ac.in/
4. Delhi Technological University (DTU)
Value for Money- 4.1/5
Bachelor Courses- B.Tech. in Biotechnology
Tenure- 4 years
Website: http://dtu.ac.in/
5. Manipal Institute of Technology (School of Life Sciences)
Value for Money- 4/5
Bachelor Courses- B.Sc. in Biotechnology
Tenure- 3 years
Website: https://manipal.edu/
Career Progression
Pay
Expert View
“We’ll continue to heal human bodies through biotechnology but we’ll also increasingly feed, clothe and house the world through bioengineered systems. Ultimately, there’s no reason why live animals should be used in any part of our food or goods chain and we’re working to make that a reality.”
— Ryan Bethencourt,
Scientist and biohacker, co-founder and former program director
at IndieBio (a biology accelerator and early-stage seed fund)
“The Department of Biotechnology has built foundations in life sciences and biotechnology education, extraordinarily good individuals, extraordinary institutions and extraordinary interactions with society and industry.”
— Krishnaswamy VijayRaghavan,
Secretary, Department of Biotechnology
Also read: Biotechnology: The new biotech buzz