Are you interested in biology or computer science, or maybe both, and are not sure what future career you are planning for? You should definitely consider the field of genomics as a potential career path.

The field of genomics has rapidly changed and applications have exploded in the last decade. Genomics is changing everything: from the way we develop new drugs and treat disease, how we make our food, how forensics solves crimes, to how you diagnose your health.

Illumina, a leading company in next-generation genome sequencing and analysis, has put together a series of short videos on possible careers in the growing field of genomics. Ever considered being a genetic councilor, an artificial intelligence bioengineer, a clinical lab manager, or bioinformaticist?

These videos are absolutely worth watching if you want to learn more about what these careers look like on a daily basis. Each of the videos also includes educational requirements and average starting salaries.

Want to be a gene detective? Consider Genetic Counselor:

Interested in cracking the code of artificial intelligence? Consider AI Engineer:

Want to join the Biological Revolution? Consider Bioinformatics:

Are you a lab nerd that wants to work with real patient samples and help solve disease problem? Consider Clinical Lab manager:

From the clinical lab to patient counseling, currently all of these require at least a basic knowledge of genome sequencing and genome data analysis. Basically every science research project these days, whether it is on human, animal, environmental or microbial subjects, uses some form of genomic data. More information about Illumina and fascinating genomic discoveries made by next generation sequencing can be found here.

If you are interested in a career in genome sequencing and genome data analysis, a biology undergraduate degree is a great place to start. At our BU Science Labs we have many classes teaching you genomics, and always have research projects where you can get your hands wet on sequencing genomes yourself, using Illumina sequencing of course. If you’re interested, come talk to us!