How Does a Biotechnologist Spend a Workday?
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What Is a Biotechnologist?
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A biotechnologist is typically a scientist with a Ph.D. degree in a life science, such as botany, biology, biochemistry or microbiology. A biotechnologist may have only a Master's degree, but she probably works under other senior biotechs as a lab assistant. A biotechnologist studies living organisms for research purposes, such as medical research, pharmaceutical research or genetic engineering. A biotechnologist generally works alongside biologists.
Running Experiments in a Lab
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A biotech more often than not, works in a laboratory setting. The primary job is to conduct experiments on living organisms under controlled conditions. These experiments can be for developing new medicines, enhancing qualities or characteristics of plants, developing new ways to process food, or identifying the infectious agents of a disease.
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Designing the Experiments and Analyzing the Data
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A biotechnologist not only runs experiments, but she is responsible for every aspect of the experiment. A biotechnologist designs and develops experiments from scratch, and she also must process and analyze the data from the experiments for her research.
Project Management
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These biotechnology experiments are often monstrous tasks with multiple variables and hypotheses, so a biotech needs plenty of others to help run the experiment. The biotech in charge of the experiment will have to supervise all of the assistants working on the project and ensure that the experiment runs on schedule and that everyone works well together.
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Resources
- Photo Credit Newcastle University
