Re: Is genetic engineering a good career option?

I'm very glad to hear that you're interested in biology, in general, and 
genetics in particular. Obviously the field of biology has expanded rapidly 
in the last 25 years and will continue to become increasingly important with 
advances in medicine, agriculture and environmental science using what can 
be broadly termed "genetic engineering". I teach an introductory biology 
course for nonmajors and the discussions of genetics and genetic engineering 
are usually the most active, so I take this to mean that even to nonscience 
majors, genetics is recognized as an important topic. I would prefer to not 
recommend individual colleges or universities because it would probably be 
prejudiced; however, I would like to recommend that you look for a school 
which is not only strong in the field of genetics, but will also provide you 
with a good foundation and understanding of math, physics and chemistry as 
well.

If you're interested in doing research, you need to think about what 
interests you; good research is most often self-driven. It's very hard to 
come into the lab every morning or go out in the field if you're not really 
interested in what you're doing. Find a general topic that interests you and 
then check out what questions are being asked and being addressed by 
researchers in the field.

A career in the biological sciences could take any number of forms depending 
on how far you would like to pursue your studies. There are a number of 
possibilities for a person with a bachelor's degree such as technical 
support in a research lab in either academia, industry or government, 
production work in the pharmaceutical industry, teaching, or even in 
business such as medical sales. Higher degrees allow more control and 
independence in these endeavors. You could also think about hybrid careers; 
genetics and law, or genetics and computer science, such talents will become 
increasingly more valuable.