Horizon Campus offers internationally renowned degrees in biotechnology
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Today there is increasing focus on new techniques and technology to expand agriculture-related production across the world, including Sri Lanka. Given this context, Plant Cell & Tissue Culture is a breakthrough technology in the world of plant biology and biotechnology, especially for the agriculture, horticulture, and environmental relatedindustries, due to its plant regeneration and micropropagation techniques, and therefore is considered a transformative technology that is helping the agriculture industry all over the world.
The Plant Cell & Tissue Culture specialisation offered through the B.Sc. (Hons) in Biotechnology at Horizon Campus, thereby offers students who follow the degree a secure and lucrative future in this specialised field.
The four-year degree is offered in English is further boosted by the opportunity for students to work in an industrial environment for six months with different professionals to gain experience, apply and explore the knowledge acquired in the classroom.
Dr. Arosha Buddhapriya, Senior Lecturer – Faculty of Science at Horizon Campus said that many of the students who completed the degree and began the internship were absorbed into the permanent cadre in organisations they served as interns. In relation to the agriculture related specialisations in biotechnology, some of the students who joined state and privateresearch institutions received the opportunity to work as research assistants.
“Some others are planning to go overseas for their higher studies, as this degree provides a considerable number of higher education opportunities for master’s degrees and PhDs,” he said.
According to Dr. Buddhapriya, one advantage of the Plant Cell and Tissue Culture technique is that if proper protocols are established, within a short period of time, many planting materials can be obtained.
“This technique is highly sought after in the agriculture and food industries, as well as in the medical and pharmaceutical industries,” he explained.
Another advantage of this technique is that it produces disease free plants, which reduces unnecessary devastation, unlike in the conventional planting process. Dr. Buddhapriya further noted “In the fields of ayurvedic medicine and cosmetics, we can use the Plant Cell & Tissue Culture technique to obtain natural products without destroying the entire plant. Usually, it needs to damage the plant or parts for a particular chemical, but if we use this method, we don’t have to harm the environment because of the techniques available in Plant and Tissue Culture, thereby ensuring sustainability.
He added, ”due to the various benefits and advantages of this technique, it is currently one of the most sought-after techniques across multiple industries, in comparison to other conventional propagation methods.
There is also a high demand for professionals who specialise in the Plant Cell and Tissue Culture technique by entrepreneurs in agriculture, horticulture, as well as pharmaceutical companies.”
During the programme, students are given theoretical and practical knowledge on all disciplines of biotechnology, medical biotechnology, food biotechnology, environmental biotechnology, and microbial biotechnology in addition to agricultural biotechnology, etc.
If a student wants to specialise in a particular biotechnology discipline, he or she can focus on carrying out a research project in that discipline and the Horizon Campus will provide the necessary lab and other facilities, and an internship on that interested field of biotechnology.
Dr. Buddhapriya further emphasised that the practical experience the campus provides the students is unique and one of a kind, as they have four separate labs for plant tissue culture, chemistry, microbiology, and molecular biology.
“Because of these four state-of-the-art lab facilities, we provide them with a unique learning experience. Biotechnology is a practical subject, and not something which can be learned only from theory, so we offer the students the necessary lab facilities, and individual attention, so that they can obtain the necessary experience in relation to plant tissue culture, molecular biology, food, environment, microbiology, chemistry, etc.”
Building experience in a myriad of biological sciences disciplines, as well as mastering practical andresearch skills, with added social skills, will give students a competitive advantage when being considered by employers.
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