I had a dream that I was doing plant research (but I am in nursing)?

Question

A few people who know me well tell me I should do research. I've thought yes, it suits my thorough personality best and but look how long it will take (another bachelors in science and then onto grad school in plant research or whatever)! I am in nursing. In my dream I was splicing and injecting a gene via bacteria vector into a plant.(I don't know if I got all the facts right). My dream was black and white. I am highly interested in cosmetic applications or pharma applications, though.

Is this dream indicating that I am taking this idea seriously (at least more seriously than before)--as a real possibility?

Answer 1

I think you are responding in just the right way. Ask questions and research your options.
While you will need to go for a bit more advanced botany and molecular biology than you have you do not need a graduate degree unless you wish to lead a research team.
Why not go for an AS degree for the applied bench work since you have the science already?
http://www.universities.com/On-Campus/Associate_degree_Biological_and_Biomedical_Sciences_Biotechnology.html
Technicians also do research, and in some nonacademic settings advance to having their own entry level technicians. Where I worked there where staff scientists who refused to have technicians or they came in as senior research associates so they weren't shunted out of the lab to desk work and management. Decide where you wish to work lab or desk, hands on research or manage research, then decide how far you need to go with your schooling to fit that goal.
Grad school is more class work but it is the beginnings of the training you need to analyse experiment design. You will be the technician for your degree advisor in all but name, just with less pay than in biotech. If you do just enough class lab work to get into work as a technician you will also learn how to design an experiment and how to carry it through working with your team.
Many claim the difference in coming through the technician ranks vs grad school is the focus on product output. As a technician you will produce work either towards a paper to publish in your PIs name &/or on a product for the company. In grad school you will be working on your own publication as first author.
I was fortunate to work for a company that included technical effort as authors, even as first authors, on papers but that is rarely the case, especially in academia. We, as technicians, were required to summarize our work weekly & present it biannually for peer review either as a poster or as a talk just as in grad school. If the work was of sufficient interest we might further present it at a conference. Techs who had a masters and showed sufficient ability became staff scientists.
Why not consider going back to get the basics to become a technician and work for a company that will pay for your grad school? You will make more money than as a TA or RA in grad school and the company will give you better projects to help you develop. This will give you a more options than just heading for grad school.
Who is doing tissue culture or transgenics work in your area. Contact them and talk to their HR to see what they want in their technical staff. What openings are generally available to each level and what is required. If you can't respect the local company's goals will you be willing to try for the rare academic employment opening or relocate to try other companies?
Personally I do not think there is a more exciting place to be working than in biotech. The field is just beginning and needs people open to change and willing to explore every new tool as it appears. In the years I worked I could expect to relearn a technique every few years as new technology made what I used obsolete. It also is more accurate with higher throughput than when I began.