Biotechnology program a stepping stone for MCTC students

The Star Tribune featured the biotechnology program of MCTC, students and staff in a Sept. 22 article in its Jobs section. A small but growing job market, biotechnology is an emerging field whose applications are constantly expanding.

Rebekah Kent, who works at the BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota, compared biotechnology to computer technology, which has fundamentally transformed the world today, affecting everything from how people consume information to the integration of computer chips in phones, automobiles and clocks.

Bryan Hall, an MCTC graduate of the biotechnology program and current student at the University of Minnesota, said that his experience at MCTC sparked anew his interest in college.

“The small class sizes and teachers being engaged,” Hall explained, “it’s way easier to ask questions.”

Hall is now pursuing two degrees in genetics, cell biology and development and biochemistry. MCTC Dean of Mathematics and Science Chuck Paulson, Ph.D., said that most students go beyond two-year institutions in the biotechnology program.

Students interested in MCTC’s biotechnology program can learn more at www.minneapolis.edu/academics/areaofstudy.cfm?aos_id=87.