Biology in the 21st Century is no longer purely
laboratory based, but is becoming an information-based science as well.
Bioinformatics is an emerging discipline which combines the latest advances in
genetics and biochemistry with the powerful tools of computer science and
statistical analysis. It aims at collecting, storage, analysis and merge of
biological data using computer technology. It is an interdisciplinary area and
today a large number of pharmaceutical and life sciences firms are increasingly
placing emphasis on IT investments related research to gain competitive
advantage by reducing time for solving complex problems. The field of
Bioinformatics is rapidly evolving and growing. New methods of storing and
accessing data are needed for Biologists to make efficient use of the data.
Bioinformatics is a highly specialized technical field. A bioinformatician
should be well versed in biology and must possess specialized skills in the IT
domain. It lays a lot of stress on Information Technology for biological data
processing which includes learning advanced programming languages such as Java,
Perl, R-programming, Oracle and Net.
Individuals with the skills to work on the
interface between computer science and molecular biology are in high demand in
biotechnology, healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, government and
universities; "bioinformatics specialist" is one of the top 30 new
and emerging occupations. The career prospects in the field have been steadily
increasing with more and more use of information technology. Bioinformatics
professionals have multiple career options in all sectors of Biotechnology,
pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences, in research institutions and also in
the IT industry. Career opportunities in this field encompass a broad range of
professions, from molecular modeling and molecular bioscience research, to
software development and database management, to biostatistics and
disease-related informatics.
Some of the specific career areas that fall
within the scope of bioinformatics involve database design and maintenance,
sequence assembly, analysis and proteomics(study of protein structure and
functions) pharmacology(computer aided drug design), clinical pharmacologist
.computational chemist, bio-analytics, Software developer etc. Recently
advertised positions include bioinformatics programmer, associate
bioinformatics scientist, software analyst, biostatistician, scientific
applications manager, genome analyst, bioinformatics analyst, software
engineer, and many others. Companies like Biocon, Reliance, Satyam, Accenture,
Accelrys, IBM life sciences, Silicon genetics offer good employments to
bioinformatics candidates.
- Lanwin Lobo
- Lanwin Lobo
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