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Geneticists

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Research and study the inheritance of traits at the molecular, organism or population level. May evaluate or treat patients with genetic disorders.

Related: Biochemists & Biophysicists Bioinformatics Scientists Medical Scientists Microbiologists Molecular & Cellular Biologists

Industries: Professional, Science, & Technical Government Education

Summary
Details

Confer with information technology specialists to develop computer applications for genetic data analysis.
Plan curatorial programs for species collections that include acquisition, distribution, maintenance, or regeneration.
Create or use statistical models for the analysis of genetic data.
Conduct family medical studies to evaluate the genetic basis for traits or diseases.
Plan or conduct basic genomic and biological research related to areas such as regulation of gene expression, protein interactions, metabolic networks, and nucleic acid or protein complexes.
Instruct medical students, graduate students, or others in methods or procedures for diagnosis and management of genetic disorders.
Maintain laboratory safety programs and train personnel in laboratory safety techniques.
Search scientific literature to select and modify methods and procedures most appropriate for genetic research goals.
Collaborate with biologists and other professionals to conduct appropriate genetic and biochemical analyses.
Review, approve, or interpret genetic laboratory results.
Extract deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or perform diagnostic tests involving processes such as gel electrophoresis, Southern blot analysis, and polymerase chain reaction analysis.
Write grants and papers or attend fundraising events to seek research funds.
Participate in the development of endangered species breeding programs or species survival plans.
Attend clinical and research conferences and read scientific literature to keep abreast of technological advances and current genetic research findings.
Attend clinical and research conferences and read scientific literature to keep abreast of technological advances and current genetic research findings.
Design sampling plans or coordinate the field collection of samples such as tissue specimens.
Verify that cytogenetic, molecular genetic, and related equipment and instrumentation is maintained in working condition to ensure accuracy and quality of experimental results.
Confer with information technology specialists to develop computer applications for genetic data analysis.
Plan or conduct basic genomic and biological research related to areas such as regulation of gene expression, protein interactions, metabolic networks, and nucleic acid or protein complexes.
Design and maintain genetics computer databases.
Maintain laboratory notebooks that record research methods, procedures, and results.
Analyze determinants responsible for specific inherited traits, and devise methods for altering traits or producing new traits.
Evaluate, diagnose, or treat genetic diseases.
Supervise or direct the work of other geneticists, biologists, technicians, or biometricians working on genetics research projects.
Prepare results of experimental findings for presentation at professional conferences or in scientific journals.
Develop protocols to improve existing genetic techniques or to incorporate new diagnostic procedures.
Evaluate genetic data by performing appropriate mathematical or statistical calculations and analyses.

Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.

Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.

Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

Education

Bachelor's degree

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

No on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

96120/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

46.21/hr

Currently Employed

1,790

Yearly Projected Openings

180

Investigative: People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out. They do well at jobs that need:

Integrity
Analytical Thinking
Attention to Detail
Persistence
Achievement/Effort
Initiative

Binocular light compound microscopes
Desktop computers
Dropping pipettes
Electron guns
Gas chromatographs
Gel documentation systems
Goggles
High pressure liquid chromatograph chromatography
Instrumentation for capillary electrophoresis
Liquid chromatographs
Mass spectrometers
Microbiology analyzers
Microplate readers
Notebook computers
Personal computers
Protective gloves
Rapid amplification or complementary deoxyribonucleic acid ends RACE technology products
Robotic or automated liquid handling systems