Let’s take a grounded look at the future of the biotech industry, say by 2035, and what that means for those eyeing jobs in biotech, bioinformatics, and life-sciences. We’ll cover four key areas: how the industry might look, which skills will fade, which will shine, what companies will do, and what mindset current grads should adopt.

1. The Industry in 2035: A More Digital, Bioconverged Biotech World

• According to projections, the global biotechnology market is expected to more than double between now and 2030, heading toward ~US $2.7 trillion.

• Biotech won’t just be about drugs—it will cover agriculture, environmental solutions, materials and manufacturing. For example, engineered microbes making bio-plastics or carbon-capture systems.

• The term bioconvergence (biology + computing + engineering) comes up often in forecasts: biotech merges with AI, nanotech, robotics to produce new capabilities.

• Biomanufacturing will increasingly use automation, continuous production, 3D-bioprinting and digital twins of processes.

2. Skills That Will Become Obsolete (or Much Less Valuable)

• Traditional lab-only skills like manually pipetting, setting up repetitive wet-lab experiments, and tedious bench work will gradually matter less in many settings. Automation, robotics and AI will handle much of the grunt work.

• Skills strictly focused on siloed biology (e.g., only knowing one organism deeply without data or computational context) will be less competitive.

• Legacy bioinformatics tools without automation, without scalability, without integration into cloud/data pipelines will lose relevance.

• If you’re aiming for a biotech job in the next decade, relying solely on “I can perform assays” won’t be enough.

3. Skills That Will Be Extremely Valuable

• Data science & AI/ML in biotech: Being able to interpret large-scale ‘omics, design workflows that combine biology and AI will be a major advantage.

• Digital manufacturing & process engineering: Knowing how to design bioprocesses, operate digital twins, optimize biomanufacturing pipelines.

• Cross-disciplinary mindset: Understanding biology + computation + engineering + regulatory + business. Reports suggest life sciences jobs will require such multi-disciplinary skills.

• Adaptability & continuous learning: Because the field will evolve fast, being able to pick up new tools, new workflows, new regulatory or ethical frameworks quickly will set you apart.

4. What Companies Will Be Working On & What That Means for Future Jobs

• Biotech companies will focus more on personalised medicine, gene and cell therapies, engineered organisms, sustainable manufacturing, carbon-capture biology.

• The manufacturing side of biotech will become more important, not just discovery, but scalable production of biologics, new materials, synthetic biology.

• There will be more integration between tech companies and biotech companies, software platforms for biology, data-driven biology startups, cloud-based biotech pipelines.

• For job seekers: roles will shift from “wet-lab scientist” to “bioinformatics/data engineer in biotech”, “digital bioprocess engineer”, “AI-driven clinical informatician”, “regulatory-tech specialist in biotech manufacturing”.

Final Thoughts: What Current Graduates Should Equip Themselves With

• Build strong computational and data skills (Python/R, cloud, data analysis, pipeline automation).

• Understand biology deeply, but always with a computational/engineering lens.

• Gain exposure to digital manufacturing or process workflows, even if it’s through projects or internships.

• Develop a cross-disciplinary mindset: you may need to talk to engineers, data scientists, regulatory folks, business leads.

• Be prepared for change. Today's tools might be different in 2035, so learn how to learn.

• Keep an eye on emerging areas (synthetic biology, cell therapies, sustainability biology) and tailor your profile accordingly.