Biotechnology has been identified in California's Education Code as one of ten strategic industries in need of educated workers. Industry, high schools, and colleges have been working together to make it easier for students to enter the field. Although some of us who have been out of school too long may think of it as only for those with expensive advanced technical degrees, that is clearly no longer the case.

San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Bernadette Tansey interviewed an East Bay family, emigrated from Mexico in the 1980's, whose two grown children in biotech jobs got their start at Berkeley High. They have two more kids who are who are learning there now. The first class, for juniors, teaches how to splice a gene into a DNA strand, which is not all that difficult to learn, once the right equipment is available. The high school program exists also at Life Academy in Oakland. It started in 1993 when Bayer needed permits to expand and city officials wanted an entry point for low-income kids. It became a non-profit called Berkeley Biotech Education Inc. and later changed its name to Biotech Partners.

Throughout the state, the California Community College Biological Technologies Initiative led by six regional centers, is working to connect industry and education. The Centers award grants to community colleges for special programs in biotechnology.

Throughout the Bay Area, the Bay Area Biotechnology Education Consortium collaborates to make it easy for science teachers to incorporate biotechnology into existing curricula. In San Francisco, the school district works with Genentech, Applied Scientific Corp., and New England Biologicals to include in high school biology classes a series of laboratory experiments that enable students to seek answers in DNA science. Email gcachianes [at] hotmail [dot] com (George Cachianes).

In Marin the comparable curriculum is called Program in Biotechnology Education. Email kralish [at] earthlink [dot] net (Rachel Kralish). San Mateo calls its project Gene Connection. Email pat [at] geneconnection [dot] org (Pat Seawell). In the East Bay, it's the East Bay Biotechnology Education Program, and the coordinator is david [dot] stronck [at] csueastbay [dot] edu (David Stronck).

Students can also go directly to the six local junior colleges that specialize in this area.

• College of Marin offers a two year program in Biology with a biotech emphasis. It's in Kentfield. Call 415-485-9502.

• College of San Mateo offers an Associate in Science degree in Biotechnology. Call 650-574-6161.

• Foothill College offers a Biotechnology Curriculum in an intensive nine-month sequence with entry in Fall quarter only.

• City College of San Francisco offers a Biotechnology Certificate Program that provides hands-on laboratory skills. Call 415-239-3000.

• Laney College offers the Bioscience Career Institute. It's in Oakland. Call 510-834-5740.

• Contra Costa College offers an Associate degree in Science with a Biotechnology major. It's in San Pablo. Call 510-235-7800.

DNA science is fascinating: StudyBuddy's director recently took an intensive introductory field class and was amazed to find it accessible. Anybody in high school would do well to look into this field, and the Bay Area is filled with opportunities.