Every day, scientists discover massive amounts of biological data, but without someone there to interpret the research and apply them to real problems, all of it is useless. You need experts to map out DNA, track diseases, and find patterns in processes and treatments.
That’s where bioinformatics specialists come in; they interpret, organize, and analyze data for everyone else to use. From medicine to conservation, bioinformatics specialists help drive scientific advancements, but their job is more than just staring at a screen.
What is a Bioinformatics Specialist?
A bioinformatics specialist is someone trained in computers, biology, and data science. But they don’t just run software: they build it! Specialists design algorithms, programs, and code to sort through all the data collected in research studies, and there’s a lot of it. They get to build the datasets that other professionals, like doctors, conservationists, and manufacturers, draw from in their own work.
So while a lot of biologists are experienced with collecting and using data, bioinformatics specialists put that data together using tools, software, and algorithms they build themselves. According to the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, bioinformatic specialists make sense of the vast amount of data from living things.
What Do Bioinformatics Specialists Do?
The day to day life of a bioinformatics specialist looks different all the time, but some of the general or core tasks you might see are:
- Processing Data: Specialists test hypotheses, find relationships, and build models off of the patterns they find in data.
- Designing Workflows: Specialists will set up workflows and practices in labs and data analysis so everything is done efficiently and correctly.
- Developing Databases: To keep large amounts of data usable, specialists will build and compile databases for other scientists.
- Programming Software: Specialists will build and program software to process and organize data for them and other scientists.
- Collaborating with Others: Bioinformatics isn’t a solitary job. They work with a team of other specialists everyday, and with biologists, lab scientists, doctors, and more.
- Staying Up to date: Biology and computers evolve daily, so specialists need to keep on top of new research and tools in their fields.
These tasks will vary depending on the industry and company. But because bioinformatics specialists maintain the bridge between biology and computation, there’s always work for them.
Where Do Bioinformatics Specialists Work?
Bioinformatics offers avenues into several different fields that work with biological data, so you have a lot to choose from. Some of these fields include:
- Medicine & Healthcare: Bioinformatics makes personalized medicine possible! By making research and genetic data available for doctors, bioinformatics allows patients to receive tailored treatments.
- Biotechnology & Drug Development: Bioinformatics tests and analyzes new products, like biofuels, biodegradable plastics, and medicines, through software simulations before lab work even begins.
- Agriculture & Food Security: Bioinformatics supports food security by improving crops, preventing disease, and streamlining food production and distribution.
- Environmental Science & Conservation: Environmental bioinformatics helps conservationists protect ecosystems and wildlife by analyzing data on endangered species, biodiversity, and invasive organisms.
- Forensics & Public Safety: Bioinformatics builds DNA databases and pattern recognition for data to make forensic work more efficient, reliable, and ethical.
If you want to learn more about the many fields you can go into with a bioinformatics degree, check out our article all about it! [LINK TO “What Can I Do with My Bioinformatics Degree?”]
Turn Data into Biology
Bioinformatics specialists are much more than data technicians. They translate data into actionable research for all kinds of scientists to use. Their work involves cleaning data, creating workflows, building software, modeling experiments, and communicating with scientists. They can be found in clinics, biotech firms, environmental labs, and more.
So if you want a lot of options in a lot of different specialties, then maybe it’s time to start looking at a bioinformatics program.
Citations
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) — Bioinformatics Explained
University of Chicago — Bioinformatics
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) — Bioinformatics
Johns Hopkins University — Biological Databases and Database Tools
Arizona State University — Bioinformatics Core
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) — Bioinformatics and Scientific Programming Core