Biotechnology is defined as "any technique that uses living organisms or substances from those organisms to make or modify a product, to improve plants or animals, or to develop microorganisms for specific uses."
What does that mean? A lot. Biotechnology is used in just about every industry and provides an exciting opportunity to put your love of science to work in the business world.
The Des Moines metro has been named a "biotechnology hub" by the Des Moines Register and a "hub for industry, R&D and Biotech" by Forbes Magazine in 2014. Grand View University offers the only biotechnology four-year degree in a 70-mile radius. Our program is designed to respond to this rapidly growing field in which employers are seeking graduates from four-year institutions.
The completion of research projects provide students with meaningful experiences which enhance their future success.
Biotechnology is an exciting and high tech field that offers a wide variety of professional opportunities such as:
These courses will not be counted in computing the GPA for the major.
ALL these major courses will be counted in computing the 2.2 GPA required for this major.
Pre-professional Preparation
You may also be interested in one or more of the following:
Professor of Biology
Assistant Professor of Biology (Anatomy)
Biology Laboratory Assistant
Lab Coordinator in Biology
Lecturer of Biology
Assistant Professor of Biology
Associate Professor of Biology
Elings Hall is home to the instrumentation facility and analytics lab as well as the cadaver lab, which makes Grand View one of the few private colleges of our size to have one. Located at the corner of East Ninth Street and Grandview Avenue, Elings Hall is a two-story building containing general-purpose classrooms, science laboratories, faculty offices, a greenhouse, and two of the three largest lecture halls on campus.
Virtual Tour
Biotechnology is used to produce foods such as bread, yogurt, soy sauce, cheeses, beer and wine, usually by fermentation. Many fruits and vegetables that we know today were produced by crossing two different species; for example, a nectarine is a cross between a plum and a peach. Biotechnology is also being used to improve traditional foods called functional foods. Examples include golden rice with vitamin A, soybean oils with less saturated fats and more omega 3, plants with more active vitamin E, potatoes with higher protein content, antioxidants in berries, peanuts without the allergenic protein, naturally decaffeinated coffee and edible vaccines. Many medicines are produced using biotechnology techniques such as Insulin, Codeine, and cancer therapy drugs. Biotechnology is also important for the environment including advances such as crops resistant to insects and pests allowing for less use of pesticides, using bacteria to clean up oil spills and other contaminants, making ethanol from corn (allowing less use of fossil fuels), as well as producing biodegradable plastics in bacteria. Biotechnology techniques are used to produce gene therapies and to improve upon techniques of forensics.