Is Biochemistry a good field

N5soulkishin

For those of you familiar with my last post was about the career stuff. well i narrowed it down to biochemist. this part is just for fun and unrelated project that is already finished. i just want to know if biochemistry is a good field to go into for both academic careers and industry.

Greg Bernhardt

Biochemistry will be a hot field for years to come. If it's something you have a passion for, there is no reason for debate. :)

Mépris

Really? How/why?

Rono

There has been made a lot of progress in biological systems only on what we've got of this decade, research should be increasing every day from now. Also, the discover of a new type of DNA structure in humans would be a revolution in biological sciences.

StatGuy2000

Is biochemistry really such a hot field in terms of employment? I wonder because outside of academia, the only employers for biochemistry majors that I can think of are the pharmaceutical industry and the food-processing industry. And I'm not certain if either sectors are hiring that many biochemists.

That being said, a biochemistry degree does give a strong foundation to pursue further studies in medicine or pharmacy, and there is a strong demand for both doctors and pharmacists.

jesse73

Arent biochemist the type of people they would hire?

The pharmaceutical industry is a huge industry which is only likely to get bigger and more profitable as indirect government subsidies get higher and the government rolls over and extends them longer patent times.

StatGuy2000

The pharmaceutical industry is indeed a huge industry, but it is not immune to downsizing. In fact, there has been considerable consolidation of the pharma industry in the last few years with large scale mergers (e.g. Merck acquiring Schering-Plough). Also, increasingly various aspects of clinical research (for example, statistical analysis, data management, medical affairs) has been outsourced to various clinical research organizations (CROs) -- essentially external contractors. I can see a scenario where much of the bench research work at pharma companies could also be outsourced (if they aren't already).

jesse73

They likely wont outsource abroad because in the countries they would get savings in labor they are more likely to lose their intellectual property so most of the outsourcing will go to some contractor in the same country so instead of working for Merck you work for their contractor company X for less money but nonetheless it is still a job.

It is less susceptible for outsourcing than any analysis done on a computer that isnt as sensitive in regards to IP. A lot of regular statistical analysis is much more susceptible because there is no IP law protecting the results.

If you put the same perspective on any industry than no industry is hot because the general trend is to outsource. However defense, pharmaceutical and software companies have more to lose by outsourcing if they cant assure as safe an IP environment as the US or Europe.