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Introduction to Genomics for Engineers
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Re: Introduction to Genomics for Engineers
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
All one needs to do is look at the Claude Science thread here last week and note how many comments were surprised that it appeared to be a statistical/analysis tool.
Just a couple days ago I argued with an HN poster who quipped that biology is stamp collecting. A non-negligible number of "mathy" engineer types (not actual mathematicians, those usually understand the complexity of biology and even gladly contribute to the field) seem to think all biologists are quirky eccentrics dedicating 30 years to a single protein or a species of ants in the Kalahari desert. (Not that these do…
There always seems to be a difference between the "normal" stamp collecting biology, and the anatomy/genetics biology. The latter part is always more fascinating to me (and I'm better at it) than the former. In essence, intra-organism biology >> inter-organism biology.
Re: Introduction to Genomics for Engineers
#43> In plants and animals, DNA is broken up into a number of large sequences called chromosomes that are tucked into the nucleus. This is a weird description, because ... it is not really "broken up". Each chromosome could be shuffled and put into different cells in different numbers. Now, it is unlikely that the resulting cell would be viable or useful, but my contention here is the "broken up" part. Chromosomes are j…
> To me it seems as if the article was written by an engineer. That's fine, but it also means that the thinking is quite biased.
It doesn't read to me as if it's written by an engineer. It reads to me as if it's written for engineers. A well written piece of introduction material bridges the gap between it's audiences, and must leave out significant detail.
Re: Introduction to Genomics for Engineers
#44> This Guide is written specifically by and for computer scientists and engineers. The underlying biology in cancer genomics can be exceedingly complex and requires years of study. This looks like a great guide to read. But I think before diving deeper and reading the rest of the guide, which granted it is from employees working in a lab inside of a hospital, I'd like to get the expert opinion of a geneticist or an e…
I wouldn't worry. The guide covers very basic material. It's stuff any undergrad genomics graduate should be able to recite from memory.
These aren't things you get by reading full chapters of an introductory textbook. These are the things you get from reading a few chapter summaries. (Of even just a book's intro.)
Re: Introduction to Genomics for Engineers
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
The definition of haplotypes is definitely incorrect am I misunderstanding anything?
How is the definition incorrect? I know haplotype as all the genomic variation on a single gene. And since every gene comes in two copies, two haplotypes define one diplotype.
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Re: Introduction to Genomics for Engineers
#46One part that people from the software side tend to underestimate is how fuzzy and analog everything in biology is. Genomics look more predictable and organized at first, but even these parts are quite fuzzy and subject to all kinds of physical effects. I'd strongly recommend in reading up on the parts of cell biology that come after this. Otherwise you'll get the wrong impression of how messy biology actually is.
And most of genomics is still stuck in 1930ties. Many people believe gender is somehow related to genes, which is objectively not true! Or that genes are somehow related to your religion!
I'd be extremely surprised if either gender or the propensity to believe in religion are 100% nature or 100% nurture - anything related to the mind is a mix of both.
Re: Introduction to Genomics for Engineers
#47> In plants and animals, DNA is broken up into a number of large sequences called chromosomes that are tucked into the nucleus. This is a weird description, because ... it is not really "broken up". Each chromosome could be shuffled and put into different cells in different numbers. Now, it is unlikely that the resulting cell would be viable or useful, but my contention here is the "broken up" part. Chromosomes are j…
As a molecular biologist / genomics PI, these examples read fine to me. It's meant as an introduction, not a compendium of every possible nuance.
I had a software engineer do a bioinformatics PhD in my group several years ago, and I wish this had existed to show him. It would have saved all of us a lot of time, and him a lot of angst and confusion.
I used to think it would be the other way around, but having supervised grad students from both sides of the divide, I can say with some certainty that it's easier (in general) to teach molecular biology majors coding, than it is to teach software engineers cloning.
(There are exceptions of course, both ways.)
The reality is that to succeed in this field now, you need both sets of skills.
Re: Introduction to Genomics for Engineers
#48This is great. As someone who was recently diagnosed with cancer, I've found myself quite interested in furthering my knowledge on the topic.
For someone interested in the field with only a computer science background, are there any jobs in the field that could reasonably be transitioned into without any formal biology education?