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Introduction to Genomics for Engineers

learngenomics.dev

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Re: Introduction to Genomics for Engineers

#71

Post by __MatrixMan__ »

wheresmycraisin wrote: post #30
civilized wrote: post #2

Really glad to see this, but it reminds me of the earlier HN post that said engineers don't go into genomics because it doesn't pay and requires a lot of investment in learning biology.

You basically end up with the salary of a helpdesk person at a university.

It's not quite the same because the helpdesk person is probably paying a sizeable chunk of their salary on tuition. Presumably working in science would scratch that itch for you, so number to compare against is whatever you'd make elsewhere, minus what you spend on tuituon, minus however much it's worth to you to be able to focus on the science and not have to balance your time with some unrelated job.

Re: Introduction to Genomics for Engineers

#72

Post by rainmaker124 »

CS person with biology PhD here. The mix of biology and computation is huge, and with the right skill set, interdisciplinary unicorns make tons of money. If you want to see how computation and biology mix, first dive into a standard university Intro Biology course, and then with that foundation, look into computational biology & bioinformatics (they're distinct). You'll find that genomics is only one piece of a much bigger and absolutely fascinating story.

To get that basic biology foundation, another post mentioned an EdX Intro Biology course, that would be a terrific start, or just get a recent university-level intro biology textbook. It's not terribly difficult material and you'll be in far better shape than reading a biology-for-laypersons pamphlet.

Re: Introduction to Genomics for Engineers

#74

Post by f6v »

nextos wrote: post #60
f6v wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> their pay is way below market The pay is exactly where market is. There’re ton of wet-lab people wanting to get into “data”. And the industry is less lucrative than showing ads like Google does.

I think Calico (Alphabet) pay is not too far from a SWE at Google. However, this requires a PhD and much more experience.

Just about any “bioinformatics” job requires a PhD in biology-related field. And there’re plenty graduates. That’s the thing, there’s plenty of supply.

Re: Introduction to Genomics for Engineers

#75

Post by the_only_law »

f6v wrote: post #74
nextos wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Calico (Alphabet) pay is not too far from a SWE at Google. However, this requires a PhD and much more experience.

Just about any “bioinformatics” job requires a PhD in biology-related field. And there’re plenty graduates. That’s the thing, there’s plenty of supply.

Yeah but…

> This Guide is written specifically by and for computer scientists and engineers.

How many engineers already have a bio phd. Who on earth is this actually written for.

Re: Introduction to Genomics for Engineers

#77

Post by Exendroinient00 »

zach_garwood wrote: post #76
Exendroinient00 wrote: post #73

Surely sellouts working on ads won't interject the comment section.

Wow, those are some sour grapes you got there!

Almost every thread covering non web/finance fields of software have loads of comments about pay as the first priority derailing entire discussion.

Re: Introduction to Genomics for Engineers

#78

Post by tombakt »

mtlmtlmtlmtl wrote: post #69
DrScientist wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except a rogue bacteria won't just kill you, it could escape beyond you and kill millions. Chemo/radiation only kills the patients it was given to ( not entirely true - if the treatment caused mutations in the germline and the patient subsequently had children, the effects of the treatment might be passed on - but still very limited ).

Bacterial infections are generally very treatable though. Even when the bacteria aren't engineered. And especially when they are, because why would you leave any antibiotic resistance in an engineered bacterium? Bacteria are the scariest when they've had the time to develop resistance to multiple different antibiotics. Additionally, a bacterium that's engineered to be almost completely harmless evolving into a deadly…

It's hubris to think we are at a stage where human scientists are so disciplined and knowledgable that we can start patching existing life-forms in such a safe enough way so as to target certain types of cells reliably over time and not others.

Software is essentially a cleanroom in the sense that the environment tends to be deterministic and man-made, and that is still riddled with unexpected accidents. Fortunately we can turn it off, fix the bug, and redeploy and the people involved in that tend to survive.

> Additionally, a bacterium that's engineered to be almost completely harmless evolving into a deadly strain in vivo is fairy unlikely in itself, especially if transcriptional errors can be reduced several orders of magnitude like GGP suggested.

The proposition was to engineer a bacteria that targets and infects a particular type of human cell to kill it. Creating medicines in a vat (like insulin) is different from releasing infectious agents in the wild. I was under the impression that this was obvious, but apparently not.

Re: Introduction to Genomics for Engineers

#79

Post by pgayed »

dekhn wrote: post #39
pgayed wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the worst outcome of regulation of the life sciences. There is no REPL for the cell. No tinkering allowed. When Marvin Minsky was growing up in New York, neighborhood pharmacists owned fluoroscopes. He said those fluoroscopes were like “great black boxes” to him and that “those kinds of black boxes don't exist for kids anymore.”

Many modern bio experiments are almost exactly a repl. You build a system and then repeatedly interrogate it inputing some data using a Read (IE, you pass in some DNA), which is then Eval'd by the cell (warning: there will be side effects), "printed" in the form of some signal like a fluoresence, and then you loop back to the beginning. This is often called "closed loop laboratory." Unfortunately, each step ends up b…

Yes, to our detriment, we overindexed on the Gelsinger outcome.

I should have clarified, by “REPL for the cell”, I meant one accessible to kids with an interest in science.

Nevertheless, you gave a great computational description of the cell! Wonderful analogies.

Re: Introduction to Genomics for Engineers

#80

Post by guy4242 »

It's difficult to get into this field if you don't have a graduate degree. I was a double major, Computer Science and Biochemistry, with a minor in Biotechnology. I sent my resume to many biotech and pharma companies, but could not even get an interview. A lot of the jobs said you need 0 years experience if you have a PhD, but 10 years experience if you have a Bachelors. Now that I have 10 years experience as a developer, I've forgotten almost everything I learned in my science education, and I've lost interest.
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