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SIMS Medical Academy
Exploring  patient simulation with the intent of improved patient care.

Biotechnology

Overall employment of science technicians is expected to increase about as fast as the average for all occupations through the year 2010. Continued growth of scientific and medical research, as well as the development and production of technical products, should stimulate demand for science technicians in many industries. In particular, the growing number of agricultural and medicinal products developed from using biotechnology techniques will increase the need for biological technicians. Also, stronger competition among drug companies and an aging population are expected to contribute to the need for innovative and improved drugs, further spurring demand for biological technicians. Fastest employment growth of biological technicians should occur in the drug manufacturing industry and research and testing service firms.

The term biotechnology encompasses a wide range of applications associated with the use of living things such as cells and bacteria to make useful products. Current applications of biotechnology include industrial production of pharmaceuticals such as vaccines and insulin, genetic testing, DNA fingerprinting, and genetic engineering of plants and animals.

Biotechnology is a new industry which started about 20 years ago, and is growing rapidly, particularly in Massachusetts.  The field is a merging of science and engineering principles in which new products are created using biological materials.  For instance, the drug insulin, which is needed by people with diabetes, is now manufactured in labs.  Technicians can splice a gene that produces a valuable substance from one organism, combine it in a test tube with a virus or bacteria, and then insert that bacteria into a host organism such as a tobacco plant that can be grown to produce more of the original substance.  In fact, a field of plants could be used to manufacture products as different as food flavorings, drugs, pigments, and dyes. 

Offered by:

Springfield
Lisa Rapp
Lrapp@stcc.edu
413-755-5254

Associate Degree

Related Field: Clinical Lab Science

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