Industrial "White" Biotechnology - A Great Area for Careers

[Dave Jensen]

Another area of employment which rarely gets discussed here on this forum is the field of industrial biotechnology, also known in Europe as "white" biotechnology.

This field is growing substantially and has nothing to do with human healthcare (most small biotech co's are healthcare related). Instead, this niche field is concerned with a cleaner environment and many other useable products.

Both the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and the Royal Belgium Council of Science have released substantial reports about this field, and I have placed links to these PDF's below. I hope it will be of interest to some readers,

Dave Jensen

Belgium Report at this link.

BIO Report at this link.

[joseph]

Does this "White" biotechnology includes biochemical/ molecular studies of bioremediation to clean-up toxic environmental pollutants?

thanks
jose

[Dave Jensen]

Yes, all environmental biotechnology is a part of this growing field,

Dave

[joseph]

Recently i joined a research group for my PhD, working on identification of metal-binding peptides to bioremediate metal-contaminated soils. I should be learning/using analytical biochemistry techniques like HPLC, ESI-MS, ICP-MS.

I wonder,if this is a right choice i made in relation to future job avenues? or do i need more molecular biology oriented research rather analytical biochemical?

thanks
jose

[Dave Jensen]

Joseph,

It sounds to me as if you are on the right track. Just as in human healthcare biotechnology, there are many different types of science required. No matter which side of the fence you are on, analytical biochemistry is a solid field.

Dave Jensen, Moderator