/sci/ - Science & Math

Biology is a pretty broad field, you're going to have to narrow it down a bit.

no

t. bioanon

>>9296592
Genetics is one of the fields where it is going to be at in this century.

>>9296597
that's fair, but I just meant in general so I kept it general.

>>9296619
care to elaborate?

>>9296622
>Genetics
that would be interesting to study imo

Do it. It's a fantastically broad field, so you can specialize yourself in in almost anything within the life sciences. But consider what you want to specialize in early so you can focus your study onto that subject. Also talk with your proffesors a lot so you can develop contacts within academia.

>>9296622
genomics, epigenetics(omics), transcriptomics, big data, population genetics, and comparative analysis are still good and getting better

I think there's a wealth of positions in biotech industry and faculty at institutions if you're willing to learn some code and some genetics and not just want to be some fag staring at birds or whatever all day

Finna steal this thread from you OP.

I'm going to a community college (for free) for a biotech associates degree (small program 3 year long program that will transfer to uni w/ credits in general genetics, general biochemistry 1, microbiology, and molecular/cell biology. We have to take the usual as well (General Chem, Biology, and Ochem 1/2). Seems like people in the program get hired by companies before we even graduate or professors from universities to help with research.

I'm not sure if I should just go for a BS in Biology w/ a minor in chemistry

or go full on Biochemistry.

I kind of want to go into genetic research and I really find the physical laws about biology interesting (chemistry).

Not sure which path to go tbqh. I'm a sophomore right now, so I still have a little time to decide. I want to do stuff I enjoy and not live in poverty/unemployment.

>>9296592
I switched my major to biology a few semesters ago and I love it. If you like science and have an appreciation of life and how it works, you'll love biology. As for finding a job, it entirely depends on what you're looking to do. A good amount of careers depend on going to and completing grad school, especially if you want to make money. If you have the drive and passion (and the grades), you'll be able to do it. It's okay if you don't know what you specifically want to go into right away. Take your general bio courses and I guarantee you there will be at least one subject in there that fascinates you. But do know that some sub-fields of biology have more potential than others. We're living in the age of genetics and it is going to keep growing. There will be plenty of opportunities and careers in genetics. You'd be solid going the genetics route. If you decide to study lichens, or something involving them, it is going to be very difficult to find a job and all that. But if you are able to find work in it, it will be extremely rewarding.

>>9296767
Sounds like biochem is right up your alley. Look into molecular biology, maybe even genetic engineering.

>>9296767
See if you can contact one of the professors in biology and biochemistry from the college. They can tell you about the curriculum and what they've seen their students do after finishing college.

>>9296592
>pros
It's interesting

>cons
see below

>possible job outlooks
Nothing. I got my B.S. in bio and have found all of jack and shit when it comes to jobs relating to it. I ended up working at a factory for a while and after getting fired not even Safeway wanted anything to do with me ("Overqualified" they said, bullshit).

Unless you're going into medicine and plan to get further degrees or certifications don't even bother. Right now I'm looking to get hired at a museum, so nothing to do with biology again but that's all I can do.

>>9298408
what did you focus on?

I'd be okay with medicine, but would rather focus more on genetics

>study maths
>end up working in computational bio

Take this with a grain of salt but any research field is FLOODED so you'll have to be good. At my uni competition for unpaid research assistance positions over holidays is insane. Don't have a perfect GPA, a tongue up one or two professor's asses and 100% of your free time to donate? You're out.

My uni is fucking horrible though so it will probably be better for you.

>>9296592
Do you like reading and regurgitating books while surrounded by females? Or do you actually want to think, do math, and get a good job?

>>9298408
literally your fault if you actually cant find some wagecuck lab assistant job.

>>9296592

>>9298408
>safeway
Auscunt learnt the hard way that if your country has jack shit industry and saturated research field (like most first world countries do for bio), the job outlook doesn't look pretty.

I guess OP should look into internships into biotech if they're available for undergrads ASAP and pray that they look at your resume.
There's always the option to go into health professions down the track. They're the more stable positions related to biology.

>>9298408
>Overqualified for Safeway
Take your degree off your resume? Change your graduation date to 3 years from now.

NO

>>9298944
>declines in females getting degrees in mathematics, statistics and computer science.
Mathematics, statistics and computer science confirmed god-tier degrees.

Genetics is good, but you'll want to go into genomics and transcriptomics if you want to survive.

I also recommend learning at least one programming language. Python and Perl are both very useful in biology. Knowing MATLAB and R may also help you.

Biologists are a bunch of degenerates trying to get rid of God and replace him with Communism.

>>9298902
Zoology

>>9298970
I don't want to be a lab assistant. I hated labs.

>>9299317
They run background checks brah, it still shows up if I have a degree. I no longer list the graduation date now but it's only a matter of time before they find out.

Like I said, medicine, genetics, pharmacy work, anything like that you can find something. I only cared about biology because of the animals so I'm pretty screwed in that department unless I go for a master's because every Tom, Dick, and Harry with a bio B.S. is applying to zoo or field study jobs so you really need to be overqualified by having a higher degree to get picked.

What do you guys think about marine biologist when it comes to jobs?

>>9300911
Even less than regular biology. Every little girl who loves dolphins wants in that and the options are limited since you're confined to only coastal regions. We had a big thread on /an/ about it last month. It was depressing.

>>9300051
>Zoology
Think I found your problem

>>9296592

1st year pharmacology PhD student, advisor runs a cancer immunotherapy lab.

>pros

1. Good (not great) job prospects
2. Interesting and rapidly expanding field
3. Feel like you're actually making a difference
4. Normies respect and are genuinely interested in what you do

>cons

1. Normies think they're experts in your field because they keep up with some bullshit """health""" blog and/or watch Grey's Anatomy
2. /sci/tards call you a brainlet

If you want to feel intellectually superior to normies (nothing necessarily wrong with that), go with a more "pure" field like math or physics. If you want to help people and also love science, applied fields (including bio) are the way to go; it's a trade-off.

The white road is good (molecular)
Genetics
Micro
Toxic
Pharma
The green is trash
eco
marine
zoo

>>9301086
This applies to USA right?
Ive heard that there is pretty good jobs there
I dont like dolphins

>>9301226
I'm a marine bio grad and never found anything. One of my buddies got a Master's in it and only could find work teaching community college.

My advice is don't limit yourself to only marine, keep it broad so if marine doesn't work out you always can fall back on other types of creatures.

>>9301220
Would agree with this as someone applying to micro PhD programs right now, all the people in bio trying to save muh animals are realizing how they just wasted 4 years learning a meme degree

>>9302326
I don't give a shit about saving them, I just think they're cool.

>>9302375
I totally respect that (since that was basically my decision for micro), but I'm sure you know plenty of people who were like that in undergrad (just like all the brainlets that think they can cure every disease in micro)

>>9298944
so you like being surrounded by men?

>math
>good job

good one

>>9301131
how is pharmacology different from medicinal chemistry? honest question anon

>>9302966

MedChem is the study of drug synthesis, pharmacology is the study of drug action.

>>9300051
Did you even try to get field experience?
Or an internship? Go get a masters

>>9301305
Thanks

My roommate took a BA in molecular microbiology, then a masters in bio-computing. He says this is actually the future, as everything in this field is transitioning that direction, and you couldn't be more attractive on the job market. Mostly because CS fags knows jack shit about biology.

>>9301131
How do you like it? I'm torn on going into Pharmacology after my undergrad or into Pharmaceutics. I'm planning on doing pharmaceutics research next year so I'll hopefully see how I like it.

>>9303036
Both people I know with a bio masters are working either as lecturer at a community college or as a secretary. There's no guarantee for $20k more I'll be any better off. I did volunteer work and it doesn't count for jack. Employers these days seem to take this attitude that if you're not paid for something you don't take it seriously and can't be trusted. But they're all quick to accept volunteers for free labor.

>>9303224

>How do you like it?

See "pros"

>Pharmacology or pharmaceutics

Funny you mention this; I joined my advisor's lab the same time as a pharmaceutics PhD student and her thesis topic ended up being a lot closer to pharmacology, with mine being a lot closer to pharmaceutics. So, while your interests do come into play (Pharmacology, MedChem, and pharmaceutics are basically BioChem, OChem, and ChemE, respectively as they pertain to drugs), as you can see from my experience, the field you pick really doesn't matter. Hell, one of my neuro professors from undergrad got his PhD in microbiology.

Good luck, anon! Most PhD apps are due in 2 weeks, I believe.

Biology will be in 10-15 years what CS is today with all the potential of CRISPR, biohacking and reversible aging.

>>9303430
It's already a 40k maximum salary career taught at community colleges.

>>9303235

don't listen to that guy master's degrees are a huge fucking scam. They're only worthwhile if you're CS or engineering because you can get a bigger starting salary / pay raise but even then I think it's better to just find a job out of your bachelors and get experience.

Master's degrees in other fields are only useful if you're going for a PhD, unless you really want to be an adjunct lecturer or something, or you're getting a meme MBA to be some middlemanagement cunt (which is not a bad option as long as you go to a good school).

>>9296592
biology is for low iq niggers who can't do math

>>9303026
thanks bra

>>9296767
Do biochem and dip heavily into bioinformatics. The laws governing protein evolution and strucutre-function relationships are super fascinating

>>9296592
Biology is good or crap depending on what you specialize in.
>>9296622
>>9296702
>>9298902
You fucking scrubs, what the hell do you mean with "genetics"? Molecular genetics? Population genetics? Nobody studies "genetics".
>>9298911
That's great anon. You'll do something useful and biologists need you.
>>9299938
Everybody should learn programming but if you haven't even started university yet just don't bother. You'll learn some R in statistics courses etc. anyway.
>>9300051
>I only cared about biology because of the animals
Lol'd. Should've just become a zookeeper, buddy.
>>9301086
That's right, marine biology is trash.
>>9303204
>bio-computing
Pretty sure you mean computational biology since bio computing is something very different, you fucking faggot.
Your friend is right, things are getting more automated, more high through-put. Data analysis is becoming increasingly more important.
There will always be a need and demand for experimentalists though, just be prepared to be good at what you want to do.
>>9303430
Delusional manchild detected.

cheers to all biofags! how do you survive in that sjw infected swamp?

Should I study chemistry?

>>9303985
it's not easy but if you like it

go for it

>>9303985
I have the utmost admiration for accomplished chemists. They tend to have godlike intuitions.

Should I study CS and Stat and then get into bioinformatics ? Will this combination be more useful for gen.research group, than typical biochemistry major ?

>>9304068
I think CS is definitely the safer route, but you should be able to transition out of a biochem degree into bioinformatics pretty well by taking more math/programming/bioinformatics/biophysics electives.

>>9296592
I'd echo many people in this thread in saying that I too think this is going to be biology's century, particularly bioinformatics, genetics, epigenetics, and molecular biology.

If you're going into biology, I think you should get a more quantitative major in undergrad, such as physics or math, then make the jump to a biomedical science program as a PhD. There are demands for more quantitative backgrounds in biomedical research, across numerous different sub-disciplines of biology, that reflect advancements in research.

Biology is a broad field. A BA/BS in zoology or botany or ecology will have different prospects from a BA/BS in molecular biology or biochemistry. And, the prospects for the physics/math/engineering BS --> biomedical science PhD track will be much, much more favorable in the coming years.

>>9296767
>or go full on Biochemistry
From what you've said (interested in physical laws about biology), go biochemistry or chemistry.

is anyone doing tissue engineering, stem cells, synthetic organs, synthetic meat 3dprinting any of that stuff? how could i get into that?

>>9304205

PhD in bio/biomedicalengineering, stem cell biology, or regenerative medicine

>>9303979

I'll just leave this here.

https://blogs.ams.org/inclusionexclusion/2017/05/11/get-out-the-way/

>>9303979
By getting out of it 10 years ago. I can't even begin to imagine how awful colleges are now.

>mfw i used to love biology as a kid
>mfw as an adult i realized the inherent flaws of our flesh vessels and understood the purity and perfection of the machine, so i became an engineer

i cannot wait for the singularity to come and to become a transhuman

>>9304247
I'd say thanks for ruining my day, but as a cishet white male I don't deserve to ever have a good day to make up for every bad day a marginalized person ever had.

Fuck science

>>9296592

Yes, because of CRISPR. You don't need a biology degree though, just buy a kit online and start modifying genes. Try to make something cool and useful.

>>9307059
could you further explain?

>>9296592
The 20th century was the age of physics.
The 21st century will be the age of biology.

>>9298911
sounds great desu

>>9306568
This desu.

>>9306568
Nigger you have no fucking idea what you're talking about, energetic efficiency of human body is better than any machine constructed. Life is THE fucking machine and I don't even need to be a biologist to see that.

>>9304033
I liked my AP Chemistry class. It wasn't hard, but I guess that's just high school.

>>9308837
That's why we need more engineers to build better machines. Meat bags aren't the pinnacle of efficiency, it just has to be good enough to work. The classic example of shitty design is human eyes and how they are by all accounts worse than octopus eyes, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter because our eyes can still get us around. I'm sure with more work we could build machines that will surpass biology.

if you cant find work in the us just go to singapore/china for a year or 2

>>9308824
>literally a picture from virginhammer 40k
How's 9th grade treating you?

>>9308875
Why are octopus eyes better?

>>9298944
The women just get degrees in zoology, conservation and other feelgood no-math fields

>wanted to study biology
>everyone told me to not do it because it's next to impossible to get a job with it and if you get one it will be terribly paid and most people regret studying it
>now studying CS which I feel miserable at because it doesn't really interest me
>too late to switch and I already switched courses too often

Why must life be so uncertain.

>>9311535
Was in the same Situation, but then said 'fuck it' and switched to biology

>>9311535
As a CS major, you can probably excel at bioinformatics and modeling in general, so you're actually pretty set if you go bio.

>>9311473
As i have heard it, all eyes evolved to work in water and that has caused problems for eyes adapted to open air.

if going the genetics route, how many years should i expect to spend in undergrad/grad school?
>tfw 22 and only now considering uni
>jus fuck my shit up

>>9311473
Human eyes have their receptors under a layer of tissue and octopus eyes don't. They end up seeing more light and iirc a clearer picture as a result. But they're also underwater so maybe they need it more.

>>9312214
In the US, 4 years undergrad and 5-6 years graduate. European PhD programs typically last 4 years.

>>9312991
>4 years undergrad

lol not for a science degree. Lab classes will eat up half your schedule and limit what you can take in a semester. I don't know anyone who finished their bio degree in under 5 years. Took me five and a half and that's with taking summer school each year to knock out bullshit GE classes whenever I could.

>>9312991
>>9313506
fuck dudes, i didn't realize a good bio degree would take 10 years of school
makes me consider doing engineering, which is something i really didn't want to do

>>9311535
Can't you just take biology electives?
You cuck. Also don't take shit like zoology or ecology. Go for protein chemistry, molecular biology etc.

Bio is a super shitty undergrad degree. It's got the same issue as pre-med or pre-law where you can't get a job with it, but it's also so fucking broad that it's only sort of helpful for learning what you need to know for the entrance exams you'll have to take when you're done.

>>9313509
The typical engineering degree courseload is higher than most science degrees

Bio seems really interesting desu. Pretty every cool tech you hear about in the news is someway related to bio. Like that new cancer treatment the FDA recently OK'd, fucking amazing.
Engineering is boring in comparison.

>>9303235
The problem is you are looking for a job and not looking to answer research questions. You need to figure out what you want to do yourself, then beg an institution for money. If you and the proposal are worth a shit you'll get a grant, if you do good and produce influential research, you will get a research position.
not so easy and requires a lot of self directed education and practice.

>>9296592
whats with the hate for ecology?
its the best life sciences discipline
>inb4 jobs
jobs have nothing to do with science, if anything jobs are what makes science suck
>inb4 no math
if you think this go ahead and off yourself right now

>>9313778
i'd rather have 4 years of higher courseload than 10 years of lighter
If there was a middle ground alternative I'd take that

>>9296592
No, not unless you REALLY REALLY want to.

This is because the job prospects are worse than that of any liberal arts degree because of how dangerously flooded the field is. Even with a Masters you'll more than likely just end up a lab tech making Wally World pay after an endless job search and even a PhD really won't guarantee much better. The only exception to this is if you manage to go full ubermensch right out of the gate and make your concentration something stupid hard or niche but with little supply of employees. If you want someone to blame for these shitty prospects blame pre-meds.

As to what you'll actually be taught it's like >>9313735 said except worse. It won't be until certain 400 level and the 500 level courses that you'll be treated like an actual human and not just Biology Major #27546 and that's IF your school has a great program that offers a lot of 400+500 levels. You'll generally develop no useful skills you couldn't have gathered from an online manual because anything that would be useful to know won't come without doing undergraduate research and schools are VERY picky about who gets to participate.

>>9313917
Ecology is literally 99% brainlets who like le cute animals.

>>9313883
Research is for stoners too scared to face the real world so they hide in college the rest of their lives.

>>9314747
>Research is for stoners too scared to face the real world so they hide in college the rest of their lives.
lol

>>9314747
is this a joke?

or are you drinking heavily because PIs don't reply to your emails

Microbiology. Research in biofilms is important in the field. Look up probiotics and the gut microbiome. We know little about it, but our microbiomes influence us in many ways (rats given broad-spectrum antibiotics get reeeeeal fat)

I did biology/zoology because it was what I was interested in. It sucks now that it's a dead-end major with no job potential, but looking back I wouldn't have picked anything else because there was nothing else I was interested in. At least having a degree at all still counts for something to some employers. I know a guy who graduated in fisheries and now he's a tour guide in NYC so whatever, the degree still got him in the door.

>>9314042
Ecologist here
This is wrong, a
nyone practicing ecology is not a brainlet, the research positions are very competitive. the mathematical side of the science is nothing to sense at and the field work and experimental sides requires a mind to get quality observations. all the data is gathered by the people you mentioned and grad student slaves who are smart in their own right.although I do like animals, but more so life in general.

>>9315121
Ecology is fairly cool, although i prefer population genetics. I've always wondered though how do you generate population scale data?