What Do Bioinformatics Technicians Do (including Their Typical Day At Work)

Job Description

Bioinformatics Technicians apply principles and methods of bioinformatics to assist scientists in areas such as pharmaceuticals, medical technology, biotechnology, computational biology, proteomics, computer information science, biology and medical informatics. Apply bioinformatics tools to visualize, analyze, manipulate or interpret molecular data. May build and maintain databases for processing and analyzing genomic or other biological information. They also analyze or manipulate bioinformatics data using software packages, statistical applications, or data mining techniques.

Other tasks include:

• Extend existing software programs, web-based interactive tools, or database queries as sequence management and analysis needs evolve.
• Develop or apply data mining and machine learning algorithms.
• Maintain awareness of new and emerging computational methods and technologies.
• Design or implement web-based tools for querying large-scale biological databases.
• Conduct quality analyses of data inputs and resulting analyses or predictions.
• Enter or retrieve information from structural databases, protein sequence motif databases, mutation databases, genomic databases or gene expression databases.

We asked Bioinformatics Technicians how satisfied they are with their job. Here is what they said.

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66% of them said they were satisfied with their job and 48% said they find that their job makes the world a better place or helps to make someone else’s life better.

Typical Day At Work

On a daily basis, Bioinformatics Technicians perform routine system administrative functions, such as troubleshooting, back-ups, or upgrades. They design or implement web-based tools for querying large-scale biological databases.

A typical day for a Bioinformatics Technician will also include:

• Maintain awareness of new and emerging computational methods and technologies.
• Analyze or manipulate bioinformatics data using software packages, statistical applications, or data mining techniques.
• Conduct quality analyses of data inputs and resulting analyses or predictions.
• Monitor database performance and perform any necessary maintenance, upgrades, or repairs.
• Develop or apply data mining and machine learning algorithms.

We asked some Bioinformatics Technicians a few questions to find out what else does their work day look like. Here is what we found.

	Do you have telephone conversations everyday in this job?	10% said yes
	How important is it to work in a team in this job?	60% said very important
	Do you have group discussions everyday in this job?	43% said yes
	Do you talk or work with customers everyday in this job?	18% said yes
	Do you have to deal with angry customers everyday in this job?	0% said yes
	Do you have to make decisions everyday in this job?	18% said yes

Other responsibilities

Besides their typical day, Bioinformatics Technicians also maintain awareness of new and emerging computational methods and technologies. They may also extend existing software programs, web-based interactive tools, or database queries as sequence management and analysis needs evolve.

On a weekly to monthly basis, Bioinformatics Technicians Test new or updated software or tools and provide feedback to developers. They might also Monitor database performance and perform any necessary maintenance, upgrades, or repairs.

In addition, they Confer with researchers, clinicians, or information technology staff to determine data needs and programming requirements and to provide assistance with database-related research activities.

Although specific duties may vary, many of them Enter or retrieve information from structural databases, protein sequence motif databases, mutation databases, genomic databases or gene expression databases.

To some Bioinformatics Technicians, it is also their responsibility to Confer with database users about project timelines and changes.

Working life

More than 40 hours per week

Regular schedule like a 9 to 5

In a typical work week as a Bioinformatics Technician, you can expect to work more than 40 hours per week.

Is this right for me

People who are suitable for this job tends to like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally..

They also like work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They like working with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery.

You can read more about these career personality types here.

Explore other careers

http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/biological-technicians.htm

http://www.aibs.org/

http://www.asm.org/

http://www.faseb.org/