How to become a Bioinformatics Analyst

Bioinformatics analyst work in laboratories where they assessed in research experiments on the human genome project. They build data on Bioinformatics to help researchers in discovering cures for diseases. Bioinformatics analyst conducts studies on the complex life chain by working with biological data such as RNA and DNA. The analyst combines biology and computer science to conduct research and studies, it is still a new area of biotechnology. Bioinformatics analyst develops algorithms and database that can help in the understanding diseases and other symptoms related to a particular disease.

A Bioinformatician analyst generally performs the following tasks:

• Help scientists in managing, processing and analyzing genomic and molecular data.
• Create and maintain data and also select algorithms to process, analyze, visualize and interpret it. 
• Use computer programming skills to extend the software packages, web tools and database queries.
• Assess and interpret all biological information. 
• Manage all genomic and proteomic data and knowledge on scientific literature to prepare reports. 
• Conduct research using bioinformatics theory in areas such as pharmaceuticals, medical technology, computational biology and medical informationcommunicate research results in conferences and scientific project reports.

You'll need at least a Master's degree, as well as programming skills and the ability to learn and apply complex technology. Bioinformatics degrees are available from a number of universities. We've outlined some of the skills you'll need to master if you decide to pursue a career in bioinformatics.

1. Bioinformatics Knowledge You must learn how to use:

• Blast and Bowtie sequence alignment tools;
• The Genome Analysis Toolkit (GATK);
• Partek software for next-generation sequencing, microarray, qPCR, and data analysis;
• Tools for handling high-throughput sequencing data (e.g. samtools);
• Ensemble tools for gathering gene data sets;
• Tools for database search systems (e.g. Entrez).

2. Statistical Knowledge You must learn:

• How to use statistical software systems like SPSS and SAS;
• How to conduct statistical analyses with Python or R

3. Programming Capabilities You should be familiar with the following terms:

• R, Perl, Python, Java, and Matlab,
• As well as machine-learning tools and libraries such as Mllib and Scikit-Learn in Python.

4. General Biology Understanding This requirement will vary depending on your field of study or the job you are applying for. You will almost certainly need to be familiar with molecular biology, genetics, and cancer biology.

5. Understanding of Genomics and Genetics This is the foundation of bioinformatics. High-throughput sequencing, next-generation sequencing, and computational genomics are some of the most important skills.

6. Database Administration This includes traditional relational databases, which are the foundation of SQL (e.g. SQL Server and Oracle). You should also be familiar with non-relational, distributed, open-source, and horizontally scalable NoSQL databases (e.g. MongoDB). You should also be familiar with big data databases (for example, TCGA) and big data analytics databases (e.g. Vertica).

7. Data Mining and Machine Learning Data Mining and Machine Learning are the seventh and eighth steps in the data mining and machine learning process Techniques like hierarchical clustering and decision trees are useful in any bioinformatics role.

8. General Knowledge Aside from the technical skills listed above, you'll need a variety of transferable skills, such as the ability to multitask and work independently, good communication skills, curiosity, analytical reasoning skills, and managerial skills.

In order to enroll into a Bachelor’s program at an esteemed university, aspirants are expected to clear the engineering entrance exams - JEE main and subsequently, the JEE Advance exam -which makes the aspirant eligible to apply at any engineering colleges in India. It is a very difficult and challenging exam to crack that requires hard work as well as rigorous and consistent preparation. Some states have their own entrance exams that are admissible in their respective universities. Many educational institutes conduct their own entrance tests.

Depending on one’s educational background, experience, and skillsets, aspirants may apply for the following bioinformatics analyst jobs:

• Bio analyst
• Clinical Pharmacologist
• Bioinformatics Software Developer
• Research Scientist
• Computational Biologist
• Science Technician
• Pharmacogenomics
• Professor