Coming Soon!
A.S in Biology: Biotechnology Concentration
These images courtesy of BIO, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (www.bio.org)
The Biotechnology Concentration
is a brand new program (coming soon) to Kingsborough’s Department of Biological Sciences.
- Beginning in the Fall 2007 semester, Biotechnology will no longer be a concentration, but a separate degree program, awarding an Associate of Science Degree in Biotechnology. However, students who are interested in the program BEFORE Fall of 2007 may still take the credits needed to earn the degree when it becomes available.
Biotechnology program director, Professor Sarwar Jahangir, works with students in one of Kingsborough Community College’s biology laboratories
- Students interested in pursuing further education in the field of Biotechnology may take advantage of the transfer agreement between the Departments of Biological Sciences at Kingsborough Community College and Brooklyn College. This agreement allows graduates of Kingsborough’s program to enter Brooklyn College as Juniors in order to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology.
- For the course requirements of the Biotechnology concentration, click HERE http://www.kbcc.cuny.edu/apdegree/KCCBIO.HTM
Kingsborough Biotechnology students learn hands on by working in our labs
Careers in Biotechnology
According to the Biotech Institute (www.biotechinstitute.org ), “when most people think of opportunities for careers in biotechnology, they think of a scientist in a white coat in a laboratory developing drugs to improve the quality of life. However, biotechnology has a wide variety of career opportunities ranging from sales and marketing, to research and development, to manufacturing and quality control and assurance.”
The biotechnology industry continues to flourish nationwide. Not only are the total number of biotechnology companies increasing, but employment in the biotechnology field continues to grow as well.
The impact of biotechnology can be seen in medical, environmental, industrial, and criminal justice fields, as well as many others…
For an idea of how extensive the scope of biotechnology is, the following statistics are from the Biotechnology Industry Organization (http://www.bio.org):
- There are more than 300 biotech drug products and vaccines currently in clinical trials targeting more than 200 diseases, including various cancers, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and arthritis.
- Biotechnology is responsible for hundreds of medical diagnostic tests that keep the blood supply safe from the AIDS virus and detect other conditions early enough to be successfully treated. Home pregnancy tests are also biotechnology diagnostic products.
- Consumers already are enjoying biotechnology foods such as papaya, soybeans and corn. Biopesticides and other agricultural products also are being used to improve our food supply and to reduce our dependence on conventional chemical pesticides.
- Environmental biotechnology products make it possible to clean up hazardous waste more efficiently by harnessing pollution-eating microbes without the use of caustic chemicals.
- Industrial biotechnology applications have led to cleaner processes that produce less waste and use less energy and water in such industrial sectors as chemicals, pulp and paper, textiles, food, energy, and metals and minerals. For example, most laundry detergents produced in the United States contain biotechnology based enzymes.
- DNA fingerprinting, a biotech process, has dramatically improved criminal investigation and forensic medicine, as well as afforded significant advances in anthropology and wildlife management.
- As of Dec. 31, 2003, there were 1,473 biotechnology companies in the United States, of which 314 were publicly held.