[Baypiggies] Bioinformatics Python Programmer

[Andrew Dalke]

On Oct 7, 2009, at 2:31 AM, Paul McNett wrote:
> So as I get older and more financially secure, I can see myself  
> getting more likely to pursue a job as a programmer in some  
> interesting scientific project. I think it would add some level of  
> personal satisfaction to my life, knowing that I'm contributing to  
> the greater good.

Then let me contribute a high note. There are a few interesting match- 
ups I've seen from a non-scientist who got into this field:

   - someone with an MIS background working for a mouse research lab.  
They needed to develop a tracking and ordering system for the mice,  
because they supply specially bred mice to other labs.

   - someone with a image processing and ray tracing background is  
now doing the job I once had; developing and maintaining a molecular  
graphics visualization program. He knows about 100x more about the  
graphics than I did, and it shows. I focused more on the  
programmability. ;)

   - someone from the games industry entered bioinformatics and his  
optimization of the program for whole genome assembly was the primary  
reason the public Human Genome Project ended up tying with the  
private one.

   - one group I visited had an design artist visit, to help come up  
with different ways to visualize their data.

In one of the companies I worked with, and several of my client  
companies, they've hired people who are not physical scientists as  
software people. Often these are support programmers, where the  
scientist knows what they want to do but not how to do it.

So there are many possibilities!


				Andrew
				dalke at dalkescientific.com