A biotechnologist is a specialist who works with plant and animal cells and microorganisms. By creating new biological materials and cultures with the help of chemistry, physics and genetic engineering, such a professional solves a variety of problems in such industries as medicine, agriculture and industry. As a result of the work of biotechnologists, new medicines, vitamins, new varieties of plants that are useful and resistant to bad weather, and much more appear every day in the world.
How did this profession come about?
Our ancestors used the methods of biotechnology already in ancient times - still knowing nothing at all about the existence of molecules or microorganisms. People began to notice that if grape juice is left to stand at a certain temperature for a long time, then it turns into an alcoholic drink - wine. And to make a lush dough, yeast was used - microscopic fungi, tiny unicellular organisms. Man discovered them empirically and did not realize that they were living organisms until the end of the 19th century, when the French scientist Louis Pasteur did not examine the yeast through a microscope and made this great discovery.
Louis Pasteur is considered the founder of microbiology, the science that underlies biotechnology. In the future, biologists made more and more new discoveries that changed human life. In the 1930s, antibiotics were invented - powerful drugs that helped kill harmful bacteria. It was now possible to successfully treat diseases from which people used to die most often. And in the 1970s, something incredible happened - scientists learned to change cells in places and combine them and change the molecules of various organic substances so that as a result, the quality and properties of these substances changed. This area of biotechnology is called genetic engineering.
Thanks to the achievements of biotechnology, more and more necessary medicines are being created today, more and more plants with new qualities that are useful for humans, more and more opportunities to replace harmful fuels (gasoline, gas) with more environmentally friendly ones.
Let's take a closer look at the areas in which you can successfully work as a biotechnologist.
Where is biotechnology applied today?
Medicine and Pharmacology
In the previous decades, biomedical scientists have developed tens of thousands of drugs that have made it possible to cure disease and prolong the life of hundreds of millions of people. If you choose this direction, you will have to work on improving the already existing substances. Antibacterial drugs, the fight against cancer, heart disease, liver, kidney - all this is a field for research and inventions in biomedicine.
Another specialty that can make you a real hero is epidemiology. You know perfectly well how much trouble the coronavirus has brought to our entire planet. Biologists and epidemiologists are trying to stop its spread, having developed a vaccine in the shortest possible time - a drug that causes immunity (body defense) against the virus. You can work to improve the effectiveness of these vaccines or to create new ones that can save thousands of lives.
Agriculture
If you decide to devote yourself to biotechnology “in the fields”, you can feed people with better and healthier food. And most importantly, you will help to preserve high yields of various types of plants on the earth, which is very important in case of unforeseen or natural disasters.
Agricultural technicians develop new varieties of crops (wheat, rye, potatoes, corn, etc.) that are resistant to insect pests, infections (yes, plants also get sick!) And unfavorable climate conditions. Thus, the volume of spoiled plants is reduced and the need to treat the fields with harmful chemicals disappears!
Food industry
Biotechnologists are also working to improve the quality and health benefits of the food we buy in stores every day. They create products with a high content of protein, vitamins, microelements, as well as purified from all harmful substances. By eating them, we can avoid many diseases, we will be healthy and beautiful. Food technologists are also developing hypoallergenic products for those suffering from allergies, and also helping to increase shelf life.
Waste recycling
Thanks to biotechnology, soil and water contaminated by human activities can be almost completely restored. For example, scientists have created special bacteria that can absorb oil spilled on water and eliminate the harmful effects of such environmental disasters. Of course, it should be remembered that in order to completely get rid of traces of debris and dirt, you need a lot of effort and money. Therefore, perhaps you will develop technologies that will avoid environmental pollution.
Creation of environmentally friendly fuel
Biofuel is a source of energy that is obtained from animal and plant materials. Such fuel, unlike oil and gas, does not pollute the environment. Biofuels can be liquid (for example, biodiesel - various types of alcohol), solid (ordinary firewood, and also fuel pellets, wood chips, straw) and gaseous (synthesis gas, biogas, hydrogen). Such fuels can be created from a variety of options - from corn and soybeans to rapeseed, palm and other types of oil. Who knows - maybe you will revolutionize science and invent a completely new type of biofuel!