student pulse
To delve further into
what challenges us,
we need to analyze
from point one – when
a biotech undergrad
enters college.
A dream most of the
new students are
fed is that, there is
an imminent boom
coming up in the
biotech sector. That
how biotech will be
a major player in the
economy in the years
to come and how
there is major scope
in this field. What
normally happens is
that amidst intensive
classes and lab work,
not to mention the
disheartened seniors
in the course, an
unsuspecting student
is later led to believe
that he has been
duped, and shown
false dreams about
this stream. A student
stops seeing the true
potential in it, and
fails to look beyond
obtaining a Master’s
and a PhD and
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BioVoiceNews | August 2017
settling thereafter,
not to forget about
the innumerable who
simply change their
streams.
Overcoming this
misunderstanding on
the ground level is the
biggest challenge the
Indian biotech sector
faces right now.
A booming industry
is the most humble
compliment this
sector can be given,
since it aims to
achieve a market size
of $100 Billion by
2025. Scaling up at
20 percent annually,
the rate is expected
to reach phenomenal
levels given the
intellectual potential
yet waiting to be
exploited properly.
This is something
not being taught
in biotechnology
classrooms, thus
indirectly blocking this
boom from attaining
its true levels. How
does one expect
students to achieve a
dream that they don’t
themselves believe
in? That is where the
problem lies, the very
foundation.
Students of
biotechnology in
all leading Indian
institutions are being
prepared to contribute
to research, produce
results, gain patents
and doctorates,
continue the cycle of
education and become
lecturers. Classrooms
today are designed in
such a way that they
only teach a student
to look into their
immediate future – up
until their next exam
or entrances. They
teach to enter (an
institution) and settle
(as a researcher if the
student holds science
in high values).
The sad part being
to this would not be
enough to supplement
a market boom.