Introduction to Career in Genetic Engineering
Genetic engineering is a course which offers great demand as it is one of the fast growing field in science and research. Here we discuss about career in genetic engineering.
What is Genetic Engineering?
Genetic Engineering (GE) means the deliberate modification of the characters of an organism by the manipulation of its genetic material.
Chromosomes inside the nucleus of a cell is the storage place for all genetic information which determine the nature and characteristics of an organism. This information is written along the thin thread called DNA. The Genetic Engineering is the artificial method of rearranging the sequence of DNA. One who do genetic engineering are called genetic engineers.
Genetic engineering comes under the broad heading of Biotechnology. This have different specializations related to plants, animals and human beings.
Roles and Responsibilities of a Genetic Engineer
The role of genetic engineers is to modify the characteristics of organism by manipulating genetic material. In plants and animals, its application is to increase the resistance or damage and to develop special characteristics. Genetically modified foods (changed color, size, etc.) are some examples. When it is the case of human beings or animals, the use of genetic engineering is to correct severe genetic or hereditary diseases.
Educational Qualification Required
A genetic engineer must have a bachelor’s or postgraduate degree in one of the fields of genetic engineering such as genetics, biotechnology, molecular biology, microbiology, biochemistry, etc. A doctoral (PhD) degree in any of these fields is always an added advantage to become a highly paid, high status genetic engineer.
Skills and Knowledge Required for Career in Genetic Engineering
Other than the knowledge required for a genetic engineer one must be good in research. Since the field is developing continuously, one must have ability to study new things. He / she must have good concentration, analytical skills, ability to understand things easily, team working skills, etc.
How to become a Genetic Engineer?
One can become a genetic engineer after choosing science stream in 10 + 2 with PCB (Physics, Chemistry and Biology) as the stream. After this he / she can choose for graduate degree in genetic. Since there are very few institutes offer genetic engineering as a course, one can opt for molecular biology, biotechnology, or any other related field. They can further go for post graduate degree and PhD in genetic engineering.
Where do I get the Job?
It is one of the fast growing field in science. The scope lies in food industry, pharmaceutical industry, agricultural sector, and mostly in research centers. The jobs are available in government, non-government organizations, public and private sector, companies and as always in teaching field.