This article is for the one that are willing to become a biochemist in their future. It will inform you about the task that a biochemist do, their workplace, their salary, how you can become one, the additional training needed, the danger of the job and when you can expect to retire. As a student that wants to do this job, I thought it will be important to inform me about this career and that the information I will get could be useful for other people that are in the same situation.
A biochemist is someone that will develop products and processes that improve the life of human like tests to detect diseases or genetic disorders. To achieve their goal, they will study the chemical and physical principles of living things and their biological processes such as cell development, growth, and heredity by doing and analyzing the results of experiments in a laboratory.
Biochemists devote their time mostly in research to expend human knowledge about genetic mutations in organisms that lead to many diseases or the evolution of plants and animals by researching on the genetic traits that are carried through successive generations. A biochemist will also search for solution to protect the environment and clean up pollution by creating renewable energy sources. Biochemists can work in an agricultural institute to develop genetically engineered crops are more resistant to afflictions like diseases and insects.
In a typical day, a biochemist will start by planning and conducting complex projects in basic and applied research, so they will manage a laboratory team to monitor the quality of the work. Their work will be to isolate, analyze and synthesize proteins, enzymes, DNA and other molecules to do research about the effects of drugs, hormones and food on tissues and biological processes. After they finish their research, they will prepare technical reports, research papers and recommendations on it, and they will finally present their findings to other science colleagues.
Most biochemists work in laboratories of hospital, industrial company, veterinary institute or university to conduct experiments, and they analyze the results in offices. The other ones go in managerial positions where they do administrative tasks like preparing budgets and schedules.
You can apply to the Natural Science Program at most colleges in Quebec where you do a 2-year program with biology, chemistry, physics and advanced math. Upon completion of the program, you can apply to the Biochemistry Bachelor's degree at many universities like Montreal University or UQAM and most of biochemistry students continue to do a doctorate. After, you can apply in many research institute and clinic.
The wages for a biochemist in the United States start from $46,673 and go up to $162,629. In Quebec, the wages for a biochemist start from $20,00/h and go up to $44,62/h.
It's important for a biochemist to attend to some conferences of science, so they can know the progression in research and new information about some subject that can be useful for their future research. They also have to read articles and new reports, so they can complete the information that they got in these conferences.
Biochemists work with dangerous organisms or toxic substances, so they have to follow strict safety procedures to avoid contamination.
There is very little chance that biochemist will be replaced by robots soon, but there is a higher chance that they will use new technologies to analyze or to prepare substance that will be use in their experiments.
The average retirement age of biochemists is 61 years old, but within these years, a biochemist will gain knowledge of heredity and genes of the life beings and will know how analysis are written in science. After their retirement, biochemists will have the feeling that they had a big impact for the research on the genetic of life beings or on medication that helps the health of human. Some biochemists will often regret the refusal of a proposition to participate on research of subject that could be very interesting.
I hope that this article responded at some of your questions. For now, I'm finishing my pre-university program at Montmorency College, but my goal is to get at least a Bachelor's degree in biochemistry at a university, so I can do research about the evolution of animals and plants because it's something that passionate me since I was young.
Rationale: to inform or educate
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Date: still relevant
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Rationale: to inform or educate
Authority: recognized author
Date: still relevant
Accuracy: probably true
Relevance: relevant for this document
Sources: no sources cited