Genetics
Tasnim Jahan
Some of the many jobs in the Genetics Field
- Geneticists
- Animal Breeders- Animal breeders use their knowledge of genetics and conformation to select breeding stock that will produce superior offspring.
- Plant Scientists- Responsible for undertaking research and working to ensure that agricultural practices result in a good amount of nutritious food in a and environmentally friendly manner.
- Genetic Counselors- They are specialists who determine risk factors for hereditary diseases and disorders in patients. They also provide genetic testing, education, and counseling to patients and their families.
Job Description
Geneticists look for genetic causes of diseases and explore how genes might be manipulated to improve human health. They also study how humans are inherited, mutated, activated, or inactivated. The study of genetics can be applied to all living things, whether they be bacteria, plants, animals or human beings. Lastly, they also study genetic disorders caused by irregularity in genes.
Geneticists
Biological scientists who study genetics in a medical laboratory are called geneticists. Geneticists can also work in clinical areas, as counselors for genetic diseases or physicians administering genetic treatments.
Some Tasks done by Geneticists
- Maintain laboratory notebooks that record research methods, procedures, and results.
- Review, approve, or interpret genetic laboratory results.
- Plan biological research related to areas such as regulation of gene expression, protein interactions, metabolic networks, and nucleic acid or protein complexes.
Education and Training
The student should have a solid background in math, physics, chemistry, and biology in high school and college. You could major in genetics or you could earn a bachelor’s degree of science in biology or another physical science and study genetics at the graduate level. Earning an undergraduate could make you pursue medical school, pharmacy school, veterinary school, law school (to work as a patent attorney). Although, a doctoral degree is more common.
Salary
The average salary for a geneticist is around $77,611. Your salary could vary based on your qualifications and job description. A medical geneticist with an MD could make $90,000 to $125,000.
Relevent
Our lab station is related to geneticists, because we used models to represent a DNA structure and got to learn about the bases. Geneticists also look at a DNA, genes, and variations in organisms. They look at DNA, whether it be a model or under a microscope. I enjoyed doing this module, because I am so interested about any topics related to genetics or even a DNA. DNA is inside of us and it interests me to know what it is compose of and how it functions. I also enjoyed it when we put the the DNA bases, Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, and Guanine together in the module stations. Geneticists also work with the bases of the DNA structure and its complexity.
Fun facts about Genetics
- The structure of DNA was discovered in 1953.
- If you unraveled all the chromosomes from all of your cells and placed the DNA end to end, the strands would stretch from the Earth to the moon about 6,000 times
- We have 30,000- 40,000 genes, each with coding for important functions.
Introduction to Genetics
18 Things You Should Know About Genetics