Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think that's what they said, slightly paraphrased: "I've published papers in bio and worked with many PhDs. Many of them were idiots" I have no interest in arguing about the interpretation of that sentence.
I have no interest in arguing about the interpretation of that sentence. Then don't "interpret" anything. The person who wrote that sentence explicitly said "many" and not "most". Barring some evidence to the contrary, the sensible thing to do is take it literally, no interpretation necessary.
Ask HN: Getting started in biology with a software background
91–100 of 150 posts
Re: Ask HN: Getting started in biology with a software background
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
Saying that many PhDs you worked with are idiots says more about you, than it does about the PhDs. PhD process is only one path, but it has a number of useful attributes, such as being very close to the active state of the art research, feedback from experts in the field, handholding through the paper and grant process, and introduction to a large social network. Those are all very hard to do with home labs and bioha…
Saying that most PhDs you worked with are idiots The person you are replying to did not say that.
Re: Ask HN: Getting started in biology with a software background
#93I'm curious who all these sarcastic bio "experts" are that are suggesting getting a PhD or hiring one. I'm a former bio major and researcher/scientist that transitioned to software engineering years ago. I've published papers in bio and worked with many PhDs. Many of them were idiots. Being a PhD doesn't mean anything, it's the independent work that you put in yourself (in an academic lab or by yourself) that determi…
>Don't listen to anyone that tells you that you can't do something because you don't have a PhD.
I definitely don't think getting a PhD automatically makes you some super genius. I've also worked with a fair number of grad students get their PhD that probably shouldn't have just because they'd been in their program long enough and basically got "pushed" out. That said, if OP is coming at the perspective of starting a business and presumably needing to convince investors/clients that he knows what he's doing, it's kind of silly to suggest he doesn't need any PhD's working for him.
Even if whatever job they're doing doesn't really require "PhD-level expertise", hiring a PhD is a fairly easy way to lend yourself some credibility, particularly towards non-technical people who probably put more weight on having a higher degree.
Re: Ask HN: Getting started in biology with a software background
#94If you are really serious about starting a biotech company, you will need to get a PhD in an applied or natural science or work at an immature startup with a team of PhDs thats needs programming help and you can hopefully learn the 'scientific' skills you need along the way. If you restrict the space of companies you want to start to be strictly in the bioinformatics space, then you can probably bypass the PhD route, but you'll need to get a job doing that sort of work at a startup. Job descriptions for those roles should tell you what specific skills you would need for that. Also, I would highly recommend becoming good at stats. Thats fundamental to any path you go down, and can be another way for you to provide immediate value to others.
Re: Ask HN: Getting started in biology with a software background
#95Re: Ask HN: Getting started in biology with a software background
#96Does this seem really incongruous to anyone else? It's like a biologist hears something about Linux, and asks about how he can start writing kernel patches having never coded anything in his life. It seems like there's an underlying assumption that computer science >> all other sciences, as if the abstract logic of computer programming is a substitute for basic domain knowledge in other fields, often built over hundr…
Of course I only mean some programmers, and I'm sure mathematicians and physicists aren't immune to the same temptation. It's natural to understand the world through the lens of what you understand best, but there are other big fields of human knowledge out there.
Re: Ask HN: Getting started in biology with a software background
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the key distinction is that there is a well-established infrastructure around software, such that the average SaaS founder (even 10 years ago) is/was not doing fundamentally new things with computers. If they were, they would probably need to understand computer science well. Take any moonshot ML company- they need quite deep technical depth and usually have a founder that has spent time in academia. We are s…
A big issue is its actually expensive to start a company that involves lab. Software can genuinely be one person in their bedroom with some AWS credit. I think the "why has no one else done this?" question is one of the worst anyone in the history of business or science can ask themselves. Any opportunity looks like that, it's why its an opportunity! The very best ones look like an obvious gaping chasm when you see t…
But there's no doubting that some sort of counter-intuitive or hidden insight is necessary. Even if that insight is: "people think this is obvious and not worth doing, but it actually IS worth doing." RE: Zero to One.
Re: Ask HN: Getting started in biology with a software background
#98Re: Ask HN: Getting started in biology with a software background
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
Funny how you find comp science is simple and logic. Of course on a if else method level yes. But how to have a running system, dependencies, fail safe operations all coupled with tousand / millions lines of code is easily more complicated than a simply thesis about a mode of action of a protein. I think we need to stop this useless debate as clearly one side has often no clue about the other. This behavior has led t…
The point is that a computer system can be entirely understood from the chips on up. Sure, it gets complex with millions of LOC. But we humans designed computers and wrote the code. Biology is not like that, and there is lack of a completed understanding form the proteins on up. So you get the complexity amplified on all fronts.
Success in biological research is driven by the scientist's ability to sort wheat from all this chaff, and it's acquired by gathering the data themselves hands-on in wet labs. A master biologist has learned how to navigate that space experimentally and analytically using techniques they've mastered just well enough to see over the noise.
As someone with degrees in both bio and CS and 15 years of work that crosses the boundary between them, I'm decidedly more in awe of those who have mastered biology.
Re: Ask HN: Getting started in biology with a software background
#100Work in the industry for a few years.
To be honest, the scientists just need big data + data science + workflows/ pipelines.