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Bioinformatics in The Economist
Erich Schwarz writes "Bioinformatics has gone from being an esoteric sub-field to being a business. The Economist gives a useful overview, while warning 'Bioinformatics is not for the faint of heart...'"
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No, I don't agree. I don't agree at all. We are on the cusp of the biggest improvents in computing in my opinion. It's like cars. First 50 years there was huge improvements. But they didn't become really useful, commodity goods even, until everyone had one. Then the real useful work begins. Refinement. Same with computing. The largest gains in terms of speed, etc have probobly happened already. But now we have the golden age to look forward. Where computers, as useful as they are now, will become more useful(kinda redundant, but oh well). We will soon be able to have computers that don't crash, that work with everything. Moreso, everyone will be able to use them, like cars. And then, when most can afford to use, and most can use, is when the real fun and excieting stuff happens. Computers that do the work, instead of you doing most of it. Photorealic games, surgey from half way around the world. The golden age is coming.
The golden age is coming.
I agree, and I'd just go one step further. I don't think computing will ever reach a point of stagnation. Computing is about ideas, and as long as we are human, we'll always have new ideas.
Machines take me by surprise with great frequency. -A. Turing
The difference in modern computing and modern biochemistry/genetics/developmental biology is that bioenginnering is a good deal behind computing. 50 years ago, we were working on making computers work. We didn't really get to working on all the applications of computers until computers could be personalized and used in the home. Bioengineering is still at the point where it's being explored. It's all being done in labs because there aren't "do it yourself" genetics labs you can put in your home. Eventually there will be, but not right now. Therefore, if you want to fark around with DNA, you need a degree and a job. If you want to fark around with computers, all you need is to teach yourself some languages and get a PC.
It's not that computers aren't as exciting as genetics is right now...there's a lot more you can do with computers than DNA at the moment. However, genetics is more exclusive because it is not as availible to the public.
If not all sentients are human, couldn't it be possible that not all humans are sentient either?
I don't think it matters what you majored in--these days you can cross over.
When it comes to bioinformatics, this is certainly true. However, to be successful in bioinformatics, people need a basic knowledge of chemistry, biology, molecular biology, genetics, programming, medicine, comp. sci. and perhaps some library science to be proficient in bioinformatics and this combination can be hard to come by. Additionally, an ability to successfully communicate with folks from all of those disciplines is crucial and can be even harder to come by. For another article on some of these issues in bioinformatics (with an admitted bias towards the Macintosh) read this article I wrote for Scientia et Macintosh
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What you can do, however, is apply computer science and engineering skills to biological problems: work as a developer or engineer for a biotech company or lab.
Bioinformatics is a fun interesting field. I worry however, that it may be a little overhyped. People who are interested in bioinformatics need to realize it is a very (albeit cool) specialized field. There aren't going to be a million more bioinformatics researchers in the world. The demand for these researchers just isn't there (and won't be there in the near future). For example, a search on hotjobs reveals only 51 listings for the keyword bioinformatics and nearly 900 listings for programmer.
That said, bioinformatics is exciting. If a computer savy person is interested in getting into it, they should intern or work for a researcher/professor on a research project. You might be surprised, however, when you find that working as a programmer elsewhere pays 2-4 times more.
-Sean (sdm@stanford.edu)
I'm a graduate student in mathematics and I find biology "hard". It's somewhat straightforwards, but there's too much crap to memorize. But all the biology people I know think math is hard, so it's obviously a matter of personal attributes and taste as to what is "hard" or "easy".
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