Biotech Stocks Breathe New Life into Business

2007-07-18 16:23:30

( Financial )



The stock market used to be filled with companies engaged in automobile production, or oil refining. Today, a businessman’s portfolio may be filled with details on biotech mutual funds, or biotech software, or biotechnology stocks in general. What is biotechnology, and how has it entered the money market?

Biotechnology is simply the life sciences put to good use. It can mean the use of bacteria to produce cheese, the engineering of human cells to produce medicines, or the improvement of plant cells to produce better crops. Cheese, medicines, and crops are all moneymakers – biotechnology is business.

Industries cash in on this growing science – after all, nearly all companies are involved, one way or another, in the life sciences. Biotechnology, moreover, complemented with more and more advances in modern science, has no way to go but up. Hence, the need for biotech stocks; and hence, your interest in making the investment.

So, should you invest in biotech stocks? Before you plunge into the money market, there are a few things you need to re-learn.

The Biotech Incubator

Quick: What is DNA? What is genetic engineering? What is pharming?

Your high school science classes established a biotech incubator right inside you, and now is the time to bring all that knowledge out. Without knowing what scientists do, how can you be sure that you are making a good investment?

There are many resources available online for learning the basic terminology of biotechnology. Consult them on how genetic engineering is done, how plants may one day be the drugstores of the future, and how cells are designed to produce hormones that some humans are sadly unable to produce. Consult with your scientist friends about things you may have a hard time understanding. Once you’ve learned the terminology, you will be able to converse with them on biotechnology – and you may begin to understand what a great difference biotechnology is making in business today.

In general, there are three kinds of biotech companies with biotech stocks available on the money market. Tissue Engineering companies seek to improve human health by producing artificial organs or tissues as forms of therapy. Companies that produce Biochips make microscopic devices that allow researchers to check if a particular gene is present in a sample – a product that is helping scientists understand genomes and genetics better. Agricultural Biotechnology companies seek to improve crops by changing their genomes, making the plants resistant to drought, floods, or even insect infestation.

Buying Biotechnology Stocks?

Before you buy biotech stocks, check out the company profile, which is usually available online. Read their latest 10-K report, which will contain a description of their businesses, competition, and business risks. Read between the lines: will their scientific work earn money? Are their experiments and investments logical? Consult with your broker, your scientist friends, and those who have traded in biotech stocks.

Get answers, and weigh them against each other. Ready to buy biotech stocks? Then learn biotech, talk biotech, and join the biotech revolution!


All rights Reserved © Tradenet Services srl
Do not duplicate or redistribute in any form.