Bioinformatics Scientists

Bioinformatics scientists utilize new age computational tools to effectively intake, sort, and make sense of "Big Data" in the field of biology.

Example Job Titles as a Bioinformatics Scientist

Bioinformaticist, Bioinformatics Scientist, Director of Bioinformatics and Trait Discovery, Director of Translation and Experimental Medicine Bioinformatics, Director, Informatics, Research Scientist, Scientific Database Curator, Scientific Informatics Project Leader, Senior Research Associate, Senior Scientist

Summary

They create the methods and algorithms for integrating knowledge about genes to help other scientists analyze and interpret gene-expression data. Bioinformatics scientists design and apply the computer systems and databases used to organize and analyze large amounts of genomic, pharmacological, and other biological data. Large amounts of data are generated by biologists and geneticists through research, and this information must be stored, organized, labeled, and mined so that scientists around the world can share and work with it to make discoveries. Bioinformatics scientists conduct research to study huge molecular datasets including DNA, microarray, and proteomics data.

Bioinformatics scientists develop software and custom scripts that automate data mining and manipulation. They develop these tools using Perl, PHP, MySQL, and other computer languages. Bioinformatics scientists also use standard tools such as Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) and other sequence comparison software packages for data mining.

Educational Requirements

The education level required for this profession ranges from a BS in Math, Stat, Biology, Physics, or Computer Science to a Masters or PhD, depending on what part of the field you would like to enter. Learn about the different areas of bioinformatics, as well as the typical educational level students pursue in order to get there here.

Salary Information 2023

According to the salary.com, the median salary of a Bioinformatics Scientist in 2023 was $102,147.

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Information retrieved from A Synopsis of Career Paths in Bioinformatics and Bioinformatics Scientist.