Academic Departments | LSCS Biotechnology Departments |

LSC-Montgomery Biotechnology Department

                    

The Biotechnology Program at Lone Star College-Montgomery works with the local bioscience industry to educate students in basic laboratory skills, math, genetic engineering, protein purification, cell culture, quality assurance and quality control,  bioinformatics, computer skills, ethics, documentation, and teamwork. Students are prepared to work in a variety of positions in companies such as pharmaceutical, molecular diagnostics, manufacturing, research, agriculture and cell culture. 

The LSC-Montgomery Biotechnology Program provides a 2-year Associates of Applied Science (AAS) degree and an Advanced Certificate for students with a 4-year degree. The AAS degree provides students the skills necessary to be a biotechnician as well as the courses for transfer to a university such as University of Houston-Downtown or Stephen F. Austin State University.  The Advanced Technical Certificate educates post-baccalaureate students to work at the bench and is composed solely of biotechnology courses. At the end of both programs, students are required to do an internship in industry. Most of these students are hired during their internship while others choose to continue their education at a 4-year university. 

About Biotechnology

The term biotechnology was coined in 1919 by Karl Erecky, a Hungarian engineer. When originally used, the term referred to the types of work that involved using living organisms to make products.

By the mid-20th century, many teams of researchers were putting together the pieces that explain how a nucleic acid, DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), carries the genetic information of the cell, and thus of all life on Earth. In 1953 James Watson and Francis Crick developed a model of DNA -- the famous "double helix" -- and showed how the molecule could replicate itself to transmit genetic information.

These discoveries opened the floodgates to today's biotech, where researchers and technicians are manufacturing new DNA, combining DNA from different life forms, and identifying which particular sequences of DNA are responsible for genetic traits, both good ones (like pest resistance in crops) and bad ones (like cystic fibrosis in humans). By working with these DNA sequences, researchers can eliminate undesirable traits, promote desirable ones, and move the traits from one life form into another. The major focus of biotechnology today is the manipulation of not only living organisms but their subcelluar parts. Welcome genomics and the golden era of genetics: What was once obscure research for scientists has become relevant to all of us.

LSC-Montgomery Biotechnology Faculty and Staff

Daniel Kainer, Ph.D.
Phone: 936.273.7060
Office: B221A

Anitha Iyer
Phone: 936.273.7363
Office: B200D

Terry Albores
Phone: 936.273.7074
Office: B200S

Mary Kay Holbeck
Phone: 936.273.7037
Office: B221B

Nancy Prejean
Phone: 936.273.7073
Office: B221