In environmental biotechnology, your duties may include:

• developing micro-organisms and plants to clean polluted land or water
• creating alternative renewable sources of energy, like biodiesel
• producing environmentally friendly raw materials for industry, like biodegradable plastics from plant starches

In industrial biotechnology, your duties may include:

• cloning and producing enzymes for use in manufacturing food and drink
• creating biological detergents and dyes for the textiles industry
• improving animal feed
• developing crops that are more resistant to pests
• genetically modifying crops to increase productivity

In medical biotechnology and biotherapeutics, your duties may include:

• studying human genetics, proteins, antibodies, viruses, plants, fungi and bacteria to research and treat diseases like cancer
• developing therapies, vaccines and hormones to treat the cause of a disease
• producing medicines using techniques like cell culture and genetic modification

You may need to wear protective clothing.

You could work at a research facility, at a university or in a laboratory.

With experience, you could move into scientific journalism, quality assurance management, sales or marketing.