The careers in molecular biology are almost endless. Molecular biology can touch any aspect of all the science fields. Using various job search engines I was able to determine what actual companies arelooking for in employee candidates. Two items stood above all in every written explanation of qualifications, education and experience. The education needed is a masters degree in molecular biology for most fields, some required only a BS degree. Experience was usually a minimum of two years in a related field. To gain experience an molecular biologist out of school may choose a position like lab assistant or research assistant and work his or her way up the ladder to senior lab technician or senior researcher. To view a sample of the job opportunities for molecular biologists click here.
These are a few of the major fields of research a molecular biologist may encounter. Accompanying them are links to pages with a great detail of information concerning the field.
Medical Careers-
Medical careers include careers which involve
relating molecular biology to the human body. Molecular biologists in the
medical field may develop new drugs that work on the cells of the human.
A molecular biologist in the medical field may study such things as the
surface receptors on the immune cells to determine how the AIDs virus infects
the body. Medical molecular biologists may study the structure and function
of viruses or bacteria to develop a vaccine. Medical molecular biologists
researching in the genetic field may work on mapping the human genome,
using the genome of simple bacteria to produce large amounts of proteins
used as medical substances. To learn about some of the fields related to
medical molecular biology, click on the appropriate link below:
Molecular Biology
Immunology
Pathology
Virology
Genetics
Biophysics
Pharmacology
Horticultural and Zoological Biotechnology
Feeding the world in the future is going to be a global problem which genetics research can help solve, or at least reduce the problem. By studying the genes of a plant species, a molecular biologist in agricultural biology can cause certain genes to express themselves. An example would be growing a population of plants which are resistant to herbicides and pesticides. This can be accomplished by using restriction endonuclease enzymes to splice certain gene sequences, thus "tailoring" the plant genome. Also by new chemicals, synthetic auxins or gibberellins, can be developed and applied to plants and cause increased growth. Similarly, cows are given bovine hormones which increase the amount of milk produced. All of the synthetic hormones are developed by molecular biologists. To learn about some of the fields related to horticultural and zoological molecular biology, click on the appropriate link below:
Horticulture
Plant
Physiology, and a special page on Thoreau's Journal
Plant Pathology
Crop Agriculture
Mycology
Entomology
Animal Breeding
Government & Environment Science
The government employs biochemists in many different areas. The FDA (Federal Drug Administration), employees molecular biologists to research the safety and proper administration of drugs. The government also employs marine biologists to study the waters on a molecular scale. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) employs molecular biologists
Marine Biology
Wild Life Management
Science teaching (Chemistry & Biology)
Ecology
