A simple web search says biotech is really big. One estimate indicates that the industry will have $400 billion in sales in 2017 with growth to over $775 billion by 2024 [1]. Another report suggests there are over 77,000 employers [2]. That’s big, but is it real, and what you can do with this information?
At Biotech-Careers.org we're interested in helping students and graduates of biotech programs at community and four-year colleges learn about the multitude of opportunities available in the biotech industry. To be helpful we ... Read more
A simple web search says biotech is really big. One estimate indicates that the industry will have $400 billion in sales in 2017 with growth to over $775 billion by 2024 [1]. Another report suggests there are over 77,000 employers [2]. That’s big, but is it real, and what you can do with this information?
Worldwide locations of biotechnology employers. Source Biotech- ... Read more
Todd M. Smith and Sandra G. Porter, Digital World Biology LLC, Seattle WA.
CRISPR/Cas9 is a hot topic. CRISPR/Cas9 is not only revolutionizing the field of gene editing, aspects of this system can be used to teach fundamental concepts in immunology and evolution. In terms of immunology, CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) and restriction/methylation systems protect bacteria from phage. CRISPR sequences are in essence an adaptive immune system for prokaryotes, storing information from previously encountered invaders.
Like everything else, if we want to know what's going on, we have to ask.
So, it's time once again for the 2011-2012 National Biotechnology/Life Sciences Program Survey.
Yes, indeed.
Federal and state agencies will use the results to determine how best to support programs like yours. This study will also help prospective students and industry employers find your program. Survey results will be available to you to help with program planning, grant activities, and more.
We only want one person from each biotechnology / biomanufacturing / bioscience program to complete the survey. If you ... Read more
What roles should community colleges play in training the bioeconomy workforce of the future?
Send your answers to bioeconomy@ostp.gov by Dec. 6th.
One night towards the end of October, we happened to meet with someone who could tell us more.
We asked him about a request for information (RFI) soliciting input on the bioeconomy, that some of us saw posted on the Federal Register web site.
"What could ... Read more
Last summer, I had the good fortune to attend a conference in Washington D.C. on Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology education. There were lots of inspiring speeches, cool videos, and talks about building more student-centered classrooms and strategies for change.
Surprisingly, many of the attendees seemed unaware that there is a group of instructors, and educational programs who embody this vision, albeit with a bit of twist.
These are the biotech instructors and biotech education programs at the community colleges.
Many of the ideas ... Read more
Every June, an incredible event takes place.
Biotechnology educators gather in Berkeley, California, from across the US, to discuss new trends in biotechnology education, learn from each other and share information about educating students for the biotechnology workforce.
There are tours of local biotech companies like Genentech and local research institutes like the cancer center at UCSF. New kits and techniques can be tried and practiced in hands-on workshops. And instructors get to practice new bioinformatics techniques like analyzing Next Generation DNA sequencing data or working with ... Read more
ScienceBlogs and science bloggers, in general, have enthusiastically supported fund-raising efforts by DonorsChoose for the past two years, and we're doing it once again for 2008.
DonorsChoose works like this: teachers write descriptions of what they want and how they'll use it for teaching, and submit their proposals to DonorsChoose. We pick the projects we like and if you like them, too, you can help get these projects funded.
This First Annual Conference for New Jersey Biotechnology Educators will be held on Saturday, Oct. 4th at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey.
I'm excited about attending this conference, not only because of the biotechnology part, but because I've reading Sarah Vowel's book ... Read more
Bio-Link is accepting applications for this year's National Summer Fellows forum, June 2-6th, in Berkeley, CA.
You can get an application at www.bio-link.org
I'll be there, doing some kind of bioinformatics workshop. I'll probably be talking about either metagenomics or comparing protein structures and drug resistance, but if you have topic requests, feel free to submit them in the comments. Read more
