Student Seeks Advice

[Anne Gillen]

Ola Ekunkonye (olae at anshar.shadow.net) wrote:
: I am a first year university student interested in pursuing a career in 
: Genetic Engineering. What is the best major to pursue for this field. 
: What preparation at this level would lay the best foundation to enter 
: this field. Does anyone know of a formal undergrad track toward Genetic 
: Engineering etc. 

: I would appreciate responses via e-mail, any insight would be of great 
: assistance. 

Gentic Engineering is a tool.  What do you want to study using genetic 
engineering?  That is the question,  unless of course you are really 
interested in the more technical aspects.  I suggest you take biology, 
molecular biology, genetics and biochemistry courses.  Intro microbiology
is also good.  Work in a lab!  You will learn a lot just from scrubbing 
dishes because you will be able to see what people do. Do you have the 
patience to deal with lots of tiny microfugetubes ?  Grad schools want 
to see that you have the initiative to get into a lab and hopefully to do 
some independent research.  
Best of luck,

Anne, a grad student in genetics.