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Bioinformatics Technicians

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

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.

Related: Biological Technicians Data Scientists Database Architects Health Information Technologists & Medical Registrars Statistical Assistants

Industries: Professional, Science, & Technical Government Administration & Support Services

Summary
Details

Enter or retrieve information from structural databases, protein sequence motif databases, mutation databases, genomic databases or gene expression databases.
Develop or apply data mining and machine learning algorithms.
Package bioinformatics data for submission to public repositories.
Extend existing software programs, web-based interactive tools, or database queries as sequence management and analysis needs evolve.
Maintain awareness of new and emerging computational methods and technologies.
Test new or updated software or tools and provide feedback to developers.
Develop or maintain applications that process biologically based data into searchable databases for purposes of analysis, calculation, or presentation.
Train bioinformatics staff or researchers in the use of databases.
Document all database changes, modifications, or problems.
Design or implement web-based tools for querying large-scale biological databases.
Analyze or manipulate bioinformatics data using software packages, statistical applications, or data mining techniques.
Write computer programs or scripts to be used in querying databases.
Confer with database users about project timelines and changes.
Perform routine system administrative functions, such as troubleshooting, back-ups, or upgrades.
Participate in the preparation of reports or scientific publications.
Monitor database performance and perform any necessary maintenance, upgrades, or repairs.
Perform routine system administrative functions, such as troubleshooting, back-ups, or upgrades.
Confer with researchers, clinicians, or information technology staff to determine data needs and programming requirements and to provide assistance with database-related research activities.
Monitor database performance and perform any necessary maintenance, upgrades, or repairs.
Enter or retrieve information from structural databases, protein sequence motif databases, mutation databases, genomic databases or gene expression databases.
Create data management or error-checking procedures and user manuals.
Conduct quality analyses of data inputs and resulting analyses or predictions.

Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.

Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.

Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

Education

Bachelor's degree

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

No on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

69690/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

33.51/hr

Currently Employed

5,200

Yearly Projected Openings

300

Investigative: People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out. They do well at jobs that need:

Adaptability
Innovation
Intellectual Curiosity
Cautiousness
Attention to Detail
Dependability

Computer workstation
Deoxyribonucleic sequence analyzers
Desktop computers
High end computer servers
High throughput screening HTS systems in nucleic acid purification
Nuclear magnetic resonance NMR spectrometers

Access software
Analytical or scientific software
Customer relationship management CRM software
Data base management system software
Data base user interface and query software
Development environment software
Document management software
Electronic mail software
Enterprise application integration software
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
File versioning software
Geographic information system
Internet browser software
Internet protocol IP multimedia subsystem software
Object or component oriented development software
Office suite software
Operating system software
Presentation software
Process mapping and design software
Spreadsheet software
Web platform development software
Word processing software

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Bioinformatics Technicians

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