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Why Genetic Engineering? | Education| Requirements| Related Careers
Why Genetic Engineering? | Education| Requirements| Related Careers
Overview:
Genetic engineering is a career that I found very interesting. More research on the topic made me believe that it may be a career that I want to go into. Genetic engineering consists of altering, splicing, and rearranging genes in order to create new, organic molecules used in many different scientific studies. The demand for individuals going into the field is increasing due to companies and colleges researching various topics.
Topics that interest me include cloning, producing strains of disease and pesticide resistant plants, and the nucleases used to splice DNA and how they work. Worldwide research is being carried out to produce more resistant strains of plants needed for the food shortages predicted in countries due to the increasing world population. We all may have to rely on these products when enough food is not being grown to support the huge populations in third world nations, and someday even our own.
Education in the field depends on the career you would like to pursue. A high school diploma is required and college degrees are required as well. A genetic engineer needs a bachelors or masters degree in biotechnology and doctorate degrees are required for most jobs. If you are interested in pursuing such a career suggested courses to study include: biochemistry, cell biology, molecular biology, genetics, biotechnology research, evolutionary biology, and medical genetics.
Genetic
engineers study inheritance and variation of characteristics. The
job also requires the knowledge of what causes specific characteristics.
A genetic engineer must alter or produce traits using enzymes called nucleases.
Genetic counseling may also come with the job and consists of talking to
people about the frequency of a disease in their family. For more
information on this topic go to job description.
Skills
required to become a genetic engineer include: operating a computer
to analyze data, the ability to explain life science concepts, interpret
data, research and analyze data at a high level. The job also entails
high reasoning, math, and language skills.
GENETIC COUNSELORS: work with people and predict the likelihood of genetic disease
POPULATION GENETICIST: examine the breeding methods of farm animals and crops
CYTOGENETICIST: study cell structure and chromosome structure also known as forensics
MOLECULAR GENETICIST: study DNA
Questions or comments email: heatherprov@hotmail.com
