Biotechnology Courses

What is Biotechnology?

Biotechnology is the application of technology to living organisms to benefit human life. This can include the use of living systems for the research and development of products, altering living systems through genetic engineering and more. Biotechnology is used in agriculture, health care, and other industries. Examples include the development of genetically modified agricultural products and pharmaceuticals.

Online Biotech Courses and Programs

Take online classes in medical biotechnology, agricultural biotechnology, environmental biotechnology and more from major universities and institutions around the world. The Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands offers an excellent free online course in sustainable biotechnology, an increasingly important area of biotech in light of global warming. In the 8-week course, industrial Biotechnology, students learn insights and tools for the design of sustainable biotechnology processes such as using microorganisms to convert organic waste into biomaterials, chemicals, and biofuels.

Wageningen University offers a 6-part program in agricultural biotechnology. Biobased Sciences for Sustainability is a MicroMasters course series that looks in-depth at sustainable bio-based resources and is targeted to professionals in the energy, chemical, and biotech industries. Learn about advanced biorefinery techniques, biobased conversion, processes and much more. The scope of biotechnology extends into the world of big data. Bioinformatics, the MicroMasters from the University of Maryland, is an in-depth look at the tools and processes for analyzing the massive quantities of data that are generated by modern biology. The self-paced, 3-part program is an excellent introduction to the convergence of biology and data science and will expose students to ways in which biotechnology engineering is being aided through the use of new tools and processes of analysis.

Biotechnology Careers

Biotechnology is an in-demand field with a recent search on Indeed.com returning over 5,000 full-time, open positions in research, development, analytics among other things. Major pharmaceutical companies and agricultural conglomerates are top employers along with research universities. Positions include research associate, informatics analyst, biotech coordinator, clinical trials researcher, genomics data scientist and much more. Enroll in online biotech courses on edX to see if a career in this exciting field might be right for you.