Biotech Undergrad Degree is One of
the Fastest Growing Programs at MSU

by Carol Flaherty

09/23/99 Bozeman, Mont. -One of the fastest growing program at Montana State University is the undergraduate degree in biotechnology.

The new program has gone from three students when it began in 1995 to 55 students in the 1998-99 school year, says Dave Long, a plant sciences faculty member involved with the program. The popularity of this major may be because the program combines a broad understanding of biotechnology with the lab experience students need to get a biotech job.

Students in the program take two years of basic courses, starting with "An Introduction to Biotechnology." After that, if they want to continue toward a bachelor of science degree in biotechnology, they declare an option in either animal, plant or microbial systems.

"The job market for industrial biotechnologists, biomedical, agricultural or general, is booming right now for bachelors level people," said Long. The program also is excellent preparation for graduate programs.

"This is one of the more challenging majors in the College of Agriculture, but it is what the profession demands and what employers want," says Long. "Many students find it very exciting and enormously stimulating."

One strength of the program is that it provides an exceptional amount of hands-on realistic lab work, says Michael White, a veterinary microbiologist who helped design the curriculum.

Many high school and university labs are "canned," meaning that you know every step and the outcome before you start, explains White. The biotech labs are different.

"In our labs, you have a goal in mind but you don't necessarily know the outcome. This is teaching science as it is practiced," says White.

Junior students in the program were enthusiastic about the labs.

"I like the hands-on," says Melanie Higgins, a junior from Great Falls. "In classes, you learn about all this stuff, but we made antibodies yesterday, and it feels good."

Melanie Higgins of Great Falls, Montana working at a "hood"
in the biotech lab. "I like the hands-on."

Two other aspects are unique in the labs: the number of instructors and the quality of the lab equipment.

"It's not an exaggeration to say that we have as many as a dozen lab instructors during a semester," says White. "This lets us to do realistic labs."

However, without research-quality equipment, the student experiences would fall short of what a biotech company wants in a new hire. In this case, not only is the lab equipment the same as used by researchers, but it is primarily grant-funded, not tax funded.

"This is an example of research funding undergraduate education," says White. "The state didn't pay for most of the equipment in the veterinary lab the students are using. It was funded by federal and private research grants." Even with grants paying for the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment, student labs are not cheap. A semester of lab supplies for the class can cost $10,000.

When MSU's Bioscience Facility opens this spring, it will be the home of a new 400-square foot biotechnology laboratory fully equipped with the latest gear for molecular biology. Federal grants and student fees have provided the equipment there.

The dozens of instructors in the biotechnology program come from multiple colleges and departments within Montana State University.

The biotechnology program is relatively uncommon on the undergraduate level, perhaps because it combines so many departments and colleges within the university.

"Biotechnology is a very interdisciplinary degree that is organized by the College of Agriculture. It isn't one department's 'baby.' We have at MSU a group of people who cooperate to run the program, and we think the students are the ones who benefit from this," says Long.

Sometimes students just beginning to study science and math have difficulty seeing just how creative it is on a professional level, said Long. Learning the vocabulary and the basic steps gives a limited view of the excitement that can follow. That is one reason the introductory course brings in a variety of speakers to convey some of the fun and excitement they feel in their profession.

"Students are challenged at first by the jargon. But after they only learn a little, they are excited to find that this is a creative endeavor, at least as much as art or music," says Long.

A high school student hoping to pursue biotechnology should take a college prep curriculum.

For more information, contact either Long or White.

Send questions or comments to Carol Flaherty, MSU Communications Services, Bozeman, MT 59717 or to Jerry Nielsen, Dan Long and Flaherty with this link: carolf@montana.edu.

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