I know that I’m most fascinated by Biology and the Life Sciences, and wish to pursue a career in them, likely in research. The research I want to do is research that immediately benefits people’s lives and makes me feel that I have some kind of visible impact on the world around me, not studying something esoteric. I mean, I do totally enjoy learning new things, even if those new things aren’t necessarily useful in life, but I also want to help people and ultimately want my work to benefit people. Based on that, it seems that a career in medical research seems most fitting for me, studying diseases and working to find cures, but I also don’t feel all that attracted to medicine and the medical field. Rather, the things in biology that interest me most are when humanity uses biological devices around them and manipulate them to their advantage. Biotechnology, I suppose, if that’s what it’s called. I want to be involved in work on things like DNA digital data storage, DNA computing, Microbial fuel cell research, etc., things where biology is applied and used to advance and improve technology and computers. A future where engineered microbes are used to fuel and support technology, where exabytes of data are stored in little capsules of DNA, and where biological systems are changed and engineered for the benefit of mankind, programmed like computers, is one that excites me.
This kind of research, I mean:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_digital_data_storage
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant-based_digital_data_storage
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_computing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbial_fuel_cell
I get that these technologies are still in their infancy and will take awhile before they become viable, but I want to at least do something to make my dream come true, be involved in this research somehow and have my career be a stepping stone for humanity to achieve my dream future. That said, I’m not sure how to go about this, and what kind of degree I need and where I need to go. I’m not sure if I’d need a biology degree or a biomedical engineering degree, and I’m not sure if I trust other “specialized” degrees like a Biotech degree over just getting one of the aforementioned two. Also, I don’t know where this kind of research is really happening, and if it’s important that I get my degree at a university that does this kind of research.
To me this looks like you are probably going to need a PhD in some field related to biology or biotech or bioengineering. If you go to a university for undergrad that has a good biology department you should know a lot more by the time that you graduate. However, you will need to keep your grades up because you will want to get into a strong graduate school. You also should try to avoid debt for undergrad given that you don’t expect to be done with college after 4 years.
The good news is that there are a LOT of universities with strong biology departments.
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For what you want to do, a PhD is necessary.
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