Laboratory analyst
Just what micro-organisms does this water contain? Is this blood infected? Is this cheese okay? If you study to be a lab analyst, these are the types of questions you will probably be faced with every day at your job. You might end up in the food-and-drink industry, the dairy industry, or maybe even the biotechnology industry, cultivating viruses and antibodies. Or perhaps in a hospital, the pharmaceutical industry, or a food inspection laboratory, where you would receive and register samples and prepare them for analysis, perhaps to reveal the presence of any bacteria, fungi, etc. To do this you would use both traditional cultivation methods and the latest DNA technologies.
Medical analyst
When you've completed a college programme in Medical Microbiology, you go on to be a medical analyst. You might work in a hospital, helping doctors establish diagnoses. One day, you might be looking for enzymes, hormones, vitamins and minerals in blood. The next, you might be tracking down the micro-organism responsible for an infection.
studying to be a medical analyst
Nutrition specialist
The laboratory sciences programme in Health and Nutrition trains you to be a real professional. A professional who knows all about the human body, the building blocks in food and the production of food products. With this treasure trove of knowledge, you provide valuable input to industries such as the food industry. What ingredients should go into a product? What enzymes can you use? How do we fine-tune the production process for optimum composition? This, of course, requires that you be on top of all the latest developments in several fields, including microbiology.
studying to be a food specialist
Research analyst
With Biomedical Research as your laboratory sciences specialisation, you will be working on real foundational research. As a research analyst, you will be helping gain new insights into the war on all kinds of diseases, with the ultimate goal of finding better means of prevention, better treatment and maybe even the cure.
studying to be a research analyst
Researcher in the broader sense
Despite the dramatic advances in research into micro-organisms in recent years, it is estimated that we have discovered less than 5% of this invisible world. So in this field, the work is out there. The possibilities are nearly endless. And for every type of research, you have the choice of going into a commercial business or working for a public research institution such as a university or hospital. Unlike in many other sectors, in biotechnology the public and private sectors work well together. So you can choose the type of organisational culture that suits you best.
A taste of what's on offer
A whole range of new and upcoming technologies such as next-generation sequencing will enable scientists to study and map the DNA of all organisms, from micro-organisms and up, much faster and thousands of times cheaper than ever before. New applications are being developed almost too fast to keep up with. Right now, hot research topics include:
- Producing cheaper and more efficient biofuels from algae. Or, with the help of micro-organisms, from inedible organic waste, such as corncobs or banana leaves.
- Biological pest control in the agricultural sector. What organisms and micro-organisms can do the job of pesticides out on the farm?
- New antibiotics. As bacteria grow to be multi-resistant, some of our current antibiotics could use an upgrade. How can we find these fast? And could bacteriophages be an interesting and workable alternative?
- Recycling methods. Did you know that bacteria are already being used to separate metals from electronic waste?
- Soil decontamination with bacteria found in nature.
- How you can use micro-organisms as raw material. For example in textile, packaging material and even bricks.