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A Survey of Biotechnology Education in Schools of Iran

Abdolmajid Lababpour, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan/Technical and Vocational Education Bureau, Tehran, Iran

Introduction Nowadays, biotechnology techniques with their dramatic effects and high benefits for human health, protection of the environment and decreasing pollution, for preparing food, new products and opening up new ways of doing scientific research, have stirred the interest of groups of people such as researchers, producers and consumers, economists, politicians, and legislators. Investment, marketing and research, becomes more attractive as there is increased possibility of gaining benefits with the continuing rapid growth of biotechnology all over the world. The advantages of biotechnology have been recognized in advanced countries such as the USA, Japan and some European countries, and in order to make the best use of these advantages, steps have been taken made to improve human resources relating to the biotechnology sectors. This has included biotechnology education for not only public sector workers and academics, but for students of K- 12 grades. Modern biotechnology education in Iran started in 1990 in Master courses in Tarbiet Modares University under the title of Chemical Engineering-Biotechnology and from that time education has spread, but still the sum of educated persons working in related sectors is much lower than the number set within the targets of the 5 Year Plan [1] This national plan as prepared by the Iranian government, is the Third Five-Year Socio-Economic and Cultural Development Plan, and was put in action in 2000. In this paper, the present situation of biotechnology education especially in K-12 grades is surveyed and some guiding points are presented for developing human resources related to biotechnology through education in secondary schools in Iran. Biotechnology uses living organisms or parts of organisms to produce or modify products, to improve plants or animals, to develop microorganisms for scientific use, to identify targets for small molecule pharmaceutical development and to transfer biological systems into useful processes and products. Biotechnology with its multidisciplinary nature overlaps with other fields such as microbiology, genetics and genetic engineering, biology, biochemistry, chemical engineering, food science and engineering, pharmacology, agriculture, botany, animal husbandry, environmental and energy engineering, and marine science [2]. Biotechnology has applications in medicine for faster and more efficient diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as fibrosis, cancer, sickle cell anemia and diabetes. Recombinant organisms will be used in industry to produce new vaccines, different drugs, solvents and chemicals of all kinds, and furthermore, in the extraction of some minerals. Biotechnology has applications in both plant and animal breeding. Scientists are developing disease and herbicide resistant crops, disease resistant digest compound that are currently polluting environment [2]. Biotechnology has many more benefits for human society, for other organisms and the environment in general. These advantages have created many opportunities and challenges for investment, research, marketing, and education in biotechnology.

Biotechnology education in Iran Although the benefits of biotechnology for society and the necessity of biotechnology education have been recognized in Iran, the rates of educational growth in these sectors and the number of biotechnology centers are still low. In the survey carried out in 2000 by the commission of biotechnology for the National Council for Scientific Research of the presidential office, a total of 46 institutes and centers (in whole or in part) are recognized as involved in biotechnology activities. Of these, 29 are universities and 17 are non- “Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2003, American Society for Engineering Education”

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Lababpour, A. (2003, June), A Survey On Biotechnology Education In Schools Of Iran Paper presented at 2003 Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--12115