Biotechnology under microscope
ABDUL LATHEEF NAHA
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Biotechnology is today's craze for many students when it comes to further studies after Plus Two, but is it worth running after? Academics share their views about biotechnology courses at different levels and explain why students should be careful when they make their choice.
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GOLDEN ECG: It is being debated whether biotechnology at the bachelor's degree level is worth it.
BIOTECHNOLOGY IS relatively new generation subject of study. Introduced in the country in 1984, it took yet another decade for biotechnology to make a foray onto the campuses of Kerala. Since then, there has been a steady increase in the demand for the subject. Today, the demand has reached a crescendo with nearly two-thirds of students passing Plus-Two making queries about the subject's possibilities.
Career counsellors and those engaged in educational guidance across Kerala, though there are not many, are flooded with inquiries about biotechnology courses and their scope. Biotechnology today looks like what information technology was in the 1990s.
Intense competition
And, naturally, to cash in on this demand, colleges are vying with each other to start biotechnology courses. Nearly 30 colleges across the State offer B.Sc. in Biotechnology. Apart from six university departments, about a dozen colleges offer M.Sc. biotechnology. And only five engineering colleges in the State - the Mohandas College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram; the Sahridaya College of Technology, Kodakara, Thrissur; the SCT College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram; the MET College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram; and the Sree Buddha College of Engineering, Pattoor, Alappuzha - offer B.Tech. courses in Biotechnology.
Varied opinion
It is time for a rethink about running after biotechnology soon after leaving school. A biotechnology degree at the B.Sc. level is widely looked down upon by subject experts. Biotechnology is different from IT. It is a research-oriented subject that demands patience and hard work. Unlike other subjects, results in biotechnology will not be quick. "It can take its own course, often up to 10 years," says M.V. Joseph, Head of the Biotechnology Department at Calicut University.
Biotechnology at the B.Sc. level should not be encouraged, says Dr. Joseph. He is not alone in this opinion. Heads of university departments that handle biotechnology at master's and doctoral level in Kerala share this view. They roll out solid reasons.
The reasons
Few doubt the endless possibilities and scope of biotechnology. But the way it is handled at the graduate level raises eyebrows from many.
Biotechnology is offered without adequate facilities in colleges. "What our colleges produce is not fit for the biotechnology industry," says P.A. Nazeem, who heads the Centre for Plant Biotechnology and Molecular Biology at Kerala Agricultural University.
M. Radhakrishna Pillai, Director of Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram, is more vehement and forthright. "Biotechnology cannot exist at the B.Sc. level, where one should learn the basic science. B.Sc. Biotechnology courses have created a confused lot in Kerala, defeating the very purpose of the subject," says Dr. Pillai.
The Centre picks up to 20 students a year for Ph.D. programmes with the scholarship of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). There is pressure on the Centre to begin M.Sc. in Biotechnology.
Losing track
However, Dr. Pillai appears wary of the subject losing its intended track once it is introduced at master's level. "Several M.Sc. programmes we have in Kerala are of poor quality," he says. Joining a B.Sc. course in biotechnology may lead to disillusionment for students. According to Dr. Joseph, there are not enough companies in Kerala to absorb the hundreds of biotechnology graduates produced in the State every year. Biotechnology firms absorb hardly 10 per cent of them. The main reason is that they do not get training at graduate level.
Limited options
They are not trained enough to start their own enterprises. The future options for B.Sc. Biotechnology students are limited. They cannot pursue any master's degree other than M.Sc. Biotechnology. At present, they cannot even go for a B.Ed. degree. Any graduate in biological science, including biochemistry, microbiology or botany, can opt biotechnology at the master's level. This kind of flexibility is not available for B.Sc. Biotechnology students. If they fail either to land an M.Sc. seat or a job soon after graduation, their future will be hazy.
Yet it may not be all that hopeless. Biotechnology-MBA combination is becoming a fad. It can have its dividends when competition increases among biotechnology firms. Dr. Joseph, who gets dozens of calls from parents seeking his opinion on biotechnology courses, says that the subject should be highlighted in the right perspective. Job opportunities are in plenty. But trained hands cannot be produced at the graduate level, he says.
Abhilash P., who teaches B.Sc. biotechnology students at EMEA College of Arts and Science, Kondotty, agrees that the subject can be learned best at the master's level. Students who opt B.Sc. Biotechnology do not get a chance to learn basic science, he says. Mr. Abhilash also admits that the job openings for biotechnology graduates are few.
Different voice
But Jayasri S., who heads the Biotechnology Department at Mercy College, Palakkad, differs. Dr. Jayasri, who studied zoology for M.Sc. and took her Ph.D. in Biotechnology from the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat), says that generalising all graduate programmes is wrong.
"Our students get fairly good training. People speak against B.Sc. Biotechnology because at the graduate level we cover almost everything taught at the master's level," Dr. Jayasri says. There are job opportunities for B.Sc. graduates, she says. "Most students of our early batches have joined for M.Sc., and there is no question of disillusionment," she adds.
Calicut University's Biotechnology Department was the sole institution in Kerala to get the support of the Central Government's Department of Biotechnology till this year. The Centre for Plant Biotechnology and Molecular Biology of Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) got the Central Department's aid this year.
KAU is the only institution in Kerala offering an M.Sc. programme in agricultural biotechnology. M.Sc. and Ph.D. programmes in Biotechnology are also offered by Cusat; M.G. University, Kottayam; Kerala University, Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur University.
Cusat plan
Cusat has plans to introduce an integrated B.Tech.-M.Tech. programme in Biotechnology, says C.S. Poulose, head of the Department of Biotechnology at Cusat. Dr. Poulose suggests that there must be a reorientation of education towards research.
The scope of biotechnology never dwindles as the technological developments and biological applications are far too many in various fields, says Dr. Poulose.
The scope of the subject is so much that those who work hard can go places easily, he says.
After M.Sc., students are absorbed into plant biotechnology industry, drug, vaccine, diagnostic and food industries. However, according to Dr. Joseph, food industry gives preference to M.Sc. Food Technology students.
Offered only at five engineering colleges, B.Tech. programmes in biotechnology too enjoy a good standing. While M.Sc. programmes lay emphasis on theoretical aspects, B.Tech. programmes target on upscaling the subject for industry. While B.Tech. lays stress on technology and industry orientation, M.Sc. concentrates on microbiology and genetic engineering.
But Dr. Nazeem says that women who constitute a majority at all M.Sc. Biotechnology programmes will be at a disadvantage.
The industry by and large prefers men owing to the nature of work. Besides, says Dr. Nazeem, a small number of women seriously seek jobs after their master's or doctoral courses.
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