Biochemists and Biophysicists

• Summary

• Details

Work Activities

• Research the chemical effects of substances, such as drugs, serums, hormones, or food, on tissues or vital processes.
• Produce pharmaceutically or industrially useful proteins, using recombinant DNA technology.
• Study spatial configurations of submicroscopic molecules, such as proteins, using x-rays or electron microscopes.
• Study the chemistry of living processes, such as cell development, breathing and digestion, or living energy changes, such as growth, aging, or death.
• Examine the molecular or chemical aspects of immune system functioning.
• Determine the three-dimensional structure of biological macromolecules.
• Develop or execute tests to detect diseases, genetic disorders, or other abnormalities.
• Develop methods to process, store, or use foods, drugs, or chemical compounds.
• Investigate the nature, composition, or expression of genes or research how genetic engineering can impact these processes.
• Study physical principles of living cells or organisms and their electrical or mechanical energy, applying methods and knowledge of mathematics, physics, chemistry, or biology.
• Share research findings by writing scientific articles or by making presentations at scientific conferences.
• Design or build laboratory equipment needed for special research projects.
• Develop or execute tests to detect diseases, genetic disorders, or other abnormalities.
• Prepare reports or recommendations, based upon research outcomes.
• Develop or test new drugs or medications intended for commercial distribution.
• Write grant proposals to obtain funding for research.
• Prepare pharmaceutical compounds for commercial distribution.
• Teach or advise undergraduate or graduate students or supervise their research.
• Manage laboratory teams or monitor the quality of a team's work.
• Develop new methods to study the mechanisms of biological processes.
• Study the mutations in organisms that lead to cancer or other diseases.
• Research how characteristics of plants or animals are carried through successive generations.
• Design or perform experiments with equipment, such as lasers, accelerators, or mass spectrometers.
• Isolate, analyze, or synthesize vitamins, hormones, allergens, minerals, or enzymes and determine their effects on body functions.
• Research transformations of substances in cells, using atomic isotopes.

Skills

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

Abilities

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

Knowledge

• 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.
• 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.
• Computers and Electronics
  • Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• 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.
• 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.
• Food Production
  • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
• History and Archeology
  • Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Sociology and Anthropology
  • Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
• Fine Arts
  • Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• 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.
• 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.
• Biology
  • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Mathematics
  • Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Economics and Accounting
  • Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
• Mechanical
  • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• 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.
• 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.
• Law and Government
  • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Production and Processing
  • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• 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.
• Transportation
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
• Design
  • Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• 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.
• 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.

Education

Education

Doctoral or professional degree

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

No on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

×

Education and Training Opportunities

• Bellevue College
  3000 Landerholm Cir SE, Bellevue WA 98007-6484
  School Type

  Public, 4-year or above

  Admissions
  School Size

  10,000 - 19,999

  Financial Aid 425-564-1000
  Other Degrees Offered

  Undergraduate degree or certificate offering,No graduate offering
  Website

  https://bellevuecollege.edu/
  Program Name
  Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  Length
  4 years
  Award Level
  Bachelor's degree
  Save

  ---

• Gonzaga University
  E 502 Boone Ave, Spokane WA 99258-0001
  School Type

  Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above

  Admissions
  School Size

  5,000 - 9,999

  Financial Aid 800-986-9585
  Other Degrees Offered

  Undergraduate degree or certificate offering,Graduate degree or certificate offering
  Website

  https://www.gonzaga.edu/
  Program Name
  Biochemistry
  Length
  4 years
  Award Level
  Bachelor's degree
  Save

  ---

• Seattle Pacific University
  3307 3rd Ave W, Seattle WA 98119-1997
  School Type

  Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above

  Admissions
  School Size

  1,000 - 4,999

  Financial Aid 206-281-2000
  Other Degrees Offered

  Undergraduate degree or certificate offering,Graduate degree or certificate offering
  Website

  https://spu.edu/
  Program Name
  Biochemistry
  Length
  4 years
  Award Level
  Bachelor's degree
  Save

  ---

• Seattle University
  900 Broadway, Seattle WA 98122-4340
  School Type

  Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above

  Admissions
  School Size

  5,000 - 9,999

  Financial Aid 206-296-6000
  Other Degrees Offered

  Undergraduate degree or certificate offering,Graduate degree or certificate offering
  Website

  http://www.seattleu.edu/
  Program Name
  Biochemistry
  Length
  4 years
  Award Level
  Bachelor's degree
  Save

  ---

• University of Puget Sound
  1500 N. Warner Street, Tacoma WA 98416
  School Type

  Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above

  Admissions
  School Size

  1,000 - 4,999

  Financial Aid 253-879-3100
  Other Degrees Offered

  Undergraduate degree or certificate offering,Graduate degree or certificate offering
  Website

  https://www.pugetsound.edu/
  Program Name
  Biochemistry
  Length
  4 years
  Award Level
  Bachelor's degree
  Save

  ---

• University of Washington-Bothell Campus
  18115 Campus Way NE, Bothell WA 98011-8246
  School Type

  Public, 4-year or above

  Admissions
  School Size

  5,000 - 9,999

  Financial Aid 425-352-5000
  Other Degrees Offered

  Undergraduate degree or certificate offering,Graduate degree or certificate offering
  Website

  https://www.uwb.edu/
  Program Name
  Biochemistry
  Length
  4 years
  Award Level
  Bachelor's degree
  Save

  ---

• University of Washington-Seattle Campus
  1400 NE Campus Parkway, Seattle WA 98195-4550
  School Type

  Public, 4-year or above

  Admissions
  School Size

  20,000 and above

  Financial Aid 206-543-2100
  Other Degrees Offered

  Undergraduate degree or certificate offering,Graduate degree or certificate offering
  Website

  https://www.washington.edu/
  Program Name
  Pharmaceutics and Drug Design
  Length
  More than 4 years
  Award Level
  Master's degree, Doctor's degree - research/scholarship
  Save
  Program Name
  Biochemistry
  Length
  4 years
  Award Level
  Bachelor's degree, Doctor's degree - research/scholarship, Master's degree
  Save
  Program Name
  Structural Biology
  Length
  More than 4 years
  Award Level
  Master's degree, Doctor's degree - research/scholarship
  Save

  ---

• Walla Walla University
  204 S College Ave, College Place WA 99324-1198
  School Type

  Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above

  Admissions
  School Size

  1,000 - 4,999

  Financial Aid 509-527-2615
  Other Degrees Offered

  Undergraduate degree or certificate offering,Graduate degree or certificate offering
  Website

  https://www.wallawalla.edu/
  Program Name
  Biophysics
  Length
  4 years
  Award Level
  Bachelor's degree
  Save
  Program Name
  Biochemistry
  Length
  4 years
  Award Level
  Bachelor's degree
  Save

  ---

• Washington State University
  French Administration Building, Pullman WA 99164-5910
  School Type

  Public, 4-year or above

  Admissions
  School Size

  20,000 and above

  Financial Aid 509-335-3564
  Other Degrees Offered

  Undergraduate degree or certificate offering,Graduate degree or certificate offering
  Website

  https://wsu.edu/
  Program Name
  Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  Length
  Less than one year
  Award Level
  Postbaccalaureate certificate, Master's degree, Doctor's degree - research/scholarship, Certificates of at least 12 weeks but less than 1 year
  Save
  Program Name
  Biochemistry
  Length
  More than 4 years
  Award Level
  Master's degree, Bachelor's degree, Doctor's degree - research/scholarship
  Save

  ---

• Western Washington University
  516 High Street, Bellingham WA 98225-9008
  School Type

  Public, 4-year or above

  Admissions
  School Size

  10,000 - 19,999

  Financial Aid 360-650-3000
  Other Degrees Offered

  Undergraduate degree or certificate offering,Graduate degree or certificate offering
  Website

  http://wwu.edu/
  Program Name
  Biochemistry
  Length
  4 years
  Award Level
  Bachelor's degree
  Save

  ---

• Whitman College
  345 Boyer Ave, Walla Walla WA 99362
  School Type

  Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above

  Admissions
  School Size

  1,000 - 4,999

  Financial Aid 509-527-5111
  Other Degrees Offered

  Undergraduate degree or certificate offering,No graduate offering
  Website

  http://www.whitman.edu/
  Program Name
  Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  Length
  4 years
  Award Level
  Bachelor's degree
  Save

  ---

Close

Pay

Washington Annual Salary

107730/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

51.79/hr

Washington Employment Trends

Currently Employed

660

Yearly Projected Openings

70

Personality

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

• Integrity
• Analytical Thinking
• Persistence
• Attention to Detail
• Achievement/Effort
• Dependability

Tools

• Amino acid analyzers
• Analytical balances
• Benchtop centrifuges
• Binocular light compound microscopes
• Calorimeters
• Camera controllers
• Chemistry analyzers
• Chilling units or cold water circulators
• Cryogenic or liquid nitrogen freezers
• Deoxyribonucleic sequence analyzers
• Desktop computers
• Digital camcorders or video cameras
• Dropping pipettes
• Dry baths or heating blocks
• Dry wall single chamber carbon dioxide incubators
• Electroencephalograph EEGs
• Electron guns
• Electron microscopes
• Electronic toploading balances
• Electrophoresis system power supplies
• Flame ionization analyzers
• Forced air or mechanical convection general purpose incubators
• Freeze dryers or lyopholizers
• Fume hoods or cupboards
• Gamma counters
• Gas chromatographs
• Gel boxes
• Gel documentation systems
• Heat tracing equipment
• Heating mantles or tapes
• Hematology or chemistry mixers
• High pressure liquid chromatograph chromatography
• Homogenizers
• Infrared spectrometers
• Injectors
• Instrumentation for capillary electrophoresis
• Inverted microscopes
• Ion analyzers
• Irradiation gamma sources
• Laboratory adapters or connectors or fittings
• Laboratory balances
• Laboratory beakers
• Laboratory flasks
• Laboratory funnels
• Laboratory graduated cylinders
• Laboratory heat exchange condensers
• Laboratory hotplates
• Laboratory mechanical convection ovens
• Laboratory vacuum pumps
• Laminar flow cabinets or stations
• Laser printers
• Lasers
• Light scattering equipment
• Liquid scintillation counters
• Mainframe computers
• Manual or electronic hematology differential cell counters
• Mass spectrometers
• Medical computed tomography CT or CAT scanners or tubes
• Medical imaging wet darkroom or daylight processors
• Medical magnetic resonance imaging MRI scanners
• Medical positron emission tomography PET units
• Medical radiation dosimeters
• Medical x ray darkroom accessories
• Microbiology analyzers
• Microcentrifuges
• Microplate readers
• Microscope slides
• Microtomes
• Mobile or transportable medical linear accelerators
• Multipurpose or general test tubes
• Notebook computers
• Nuclear magnetic resonance NMR spectrometers
• Optical beamsplitters
• Orbital shakers
• Orbital shaking water baths
• Osmometers
• Paramagnetic susceptibility analyzers
• Pasteur or transfer pipettes
• Personal computers
• Photo attachments for microscopes
• Piezo electric crystals
• Plotter printers
• Polarimeters
• Polarizing microscopes
• Pressure indicators
• Protective hood
• Protein analyzers
• Reactors or fermenters or digesters
• Refrigerated and heated reach in environmental or growth chambers
• Refrigerated benchtop centrifuges
• Rheometers
• Robotic or automated liquid handling systems
• Scanners
• Scanning electron microscopes
• Scanning light or spinning disk or laser scanning microscopes
• Scanning probe microscopes
• Shaking incubators
• Signal conditioners
• Signal generators
• Spectrofluorimeters or fluorimeters
• Spectrometers
• Spectrophotometers
• Standard fermentation units
• Steam autoclaves or sterilizers
• Tissue processors
• Transilluminators
• Transmission electron microscopes
• Tweezers
• Ultra violet water purification units
• Ultracentrifuges
• Ultrasonic cleaning equipment
• Ultrasonic disintegrators
• Vacuum or centrifugal concentrators
• Viscosimeters
• Water baths
• X ray diffraction equipment
• X ray generators
• pH meters

Technology

• Analytical or scientific software
• Computer aided design CAD software
• Data base user interface and query software
• Data mining software
• Electronic mail software
• Enterprise application integration software
• Enterprise resource planning ERP software
• Geographic information system
• Graphics or photo imaging software
• Information retrieval or search software
• Internet browser software
• Inventory management software
• Object or component oriented development software
• Office suite software
• Operating system software
• Presentation software
• Process mapping and design software
• Spreadsheet software
• Word processing software