Biological Sciences (Biotechnology) BSc (Hons) personal statement example

Why do you want to study this course or subject?

When I set up my first tropical aquarium at fifteen, the shop assistant told me to wait several weeks before adding fish. I wanted to know why. The answer was bacteria: colonies on the filter sponge converting ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate. I ran a fishless cycle, dosing ammonia and recording readings from a liquid test kit every two days in a spreadsheet. Watching nitrite rise sharply and then fall to zero over about five weeks was the first time I had tracked a microbial process I could measure but not see. That made me want to understand how living systems can be put to work, which is what draws me to biotechnology.

Helping my aunt make cheese for her stall at our local farmers' market pushed this further. When she switched to a vegetarian rennet, the label said it contained fermentation-produced chymosin. I found out that the gene for the calf enzyme has been inserted into microorganisms, which then make the protein in fermenters. It surprised me that something so ordinary in a kitchen depends on genetic engineering, and I enjoyed explaining it to customers who asked whether the cheese was suitable for vegetarians.

Reading Ed Yong's I Contain Multitudes widened my view of microbes beyond spoilage and disease, especially his accounts of symbiosis between animals and their bacteria. A Crack in Creation by Jennifer Doudna and Samuel Sternberg then showed me how a bacterial defence system became a gene-editing tool. Its discussion of germline editing made me think hard about where limits should sit. I want to study how organisms can be engineered usefully and responsibly, and to learn the laboratory skills that make that possible.

How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare?

In A level Biology I have particularly enjoyed gene expression and recombinant DNA, because they explained the chymosin story in detail: restriction enzymes, plasmid vectors and marker genes used to identify transformed cells. Our required practicals have given me confidence with aseptic technique. When we tested antimicrobial discs on bacterial lawns, I flamed the loop, worked close to the Bunsen and kept my plates free of contamination. In Chemistry, kinetics has helped me think about enzymes as catalysts whose rates can be measured and compared, and I used that when investigating catalase activity in potato at different temperatures. Geography has taught me to handle messy fieldwork data. For my independent investigation I measured infiltration rates at three sites near school, which made me careful about sample sizes and anomalous results. Outside lessons I attend our school Biology club, where I helped run a gel electrophoresis demonstration with a kit lent through a local outreach scheme, explaining to Year 9 students why smaller DNA fragments travel further through the gel.

What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?

For the past two years I have worked Saturday shifts washing up and preparing vegetables in a busy café. It is fast work, and I have learnt to keep my station organised, follow food hygiene rules and stay calm when orders back up. Last summer I was asked to train two new starters, which meant explaining routines clearly rather than simply doing the jobs myself.

Market days with my aunt involve setting up the stall at seven, labelling cheeses with allergen information and taking card payments. She makes small batches, and I now help her keep a simple log of milk temperatures and setting times, which helped her work out why one batch came out softer than usual.

My aquarium is now a planted 120-litre tank with a breeding colony of cherry shrimp, and I pass surplus shrimp on through a local fishkeeping club. I also play five-a-side football on Wednesday evenings, which is a welcome break from revision. Balancing these commitments with my studies has taught me to plan my week, and I am looking forward to the independent study and long practical sessions a biotechnology degree involves.