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Forum: How do I start my journey as bioinformatics?

Hello! I'm a student interested in bioinformatics, and I'm excited to start my journey with a Bachelor's degree in Bioinformatics at my country's top university. To gain practical experience and earn money, I'd like to learn programming languages commonly used in bioinformatics. Since I'm new to the field, could you please suggest essential programming languages and skills to learn, enabling me to start earning money as I embark on my bioinformatics journey?

student education career bioinformatics programming
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updated by jared.andrews07 jared.andrews07 • written by khumza050 • khumza050

Understand the biology behind. Bioinformatics folks who work on analysis (rather than software development) are borderline useless if they don't have a good understanding what they're analyzing. That very sloppy statement is the condensed experience I made with people over the last ~ 10 years.

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written by ATpoint ATpoint

I'd like to learn programming languages commonly used in bioinformatics

Since you are getting a degree in bioinformatics you must have done this in first year of your degree program. What languages do you already know/are comfortable with?

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written by GenoMax GenoMax

I don't know of any language because I am just a beginner so I am comfortable with language which is mostly used in bioinformatic field so I guess python sounds good to me as I hear more about python several times than other languages programming

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written by khumza050 • khumza050
  • If you want to do tool development, you probably want to learn C++/C, Rust (maybe), and python. If you're going to develop web servers and the likes, you'll want to learn one of them frontend and backend stacks.
  • If you want to go down the analysis route, you'll need to learn R and python.
  • You'll need R or python for plotting and data visualization too.
  • You'll need to familiarize yourself with bash and working with Linux-based operating systems to comfortably run a vast majority of the bioinformatics tools out there.
  • You'll also want to learn either Nextflow or snakemake to make use of pre-existing workflows and write your own ones.
  • You'll need a decent grasp of (at the very least) basic statistics and basic biology in order to apply the aforementioned languages and tools to problems. An appreciation of the scientific method and its limitations is also valuable.
  • Curiosity, integrity, and compassion towards all your fellow beings will also help in producing science that is beneficial to all while being detrimental to none (or at the worst, only to a few).
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written by Dunois • Dunois

1 answer

R, python, bash are in pretty much every bioinformaticians toolbox in some capacity or another. Learning a workflow language/ecosystem also isn't a bad idea (nextflow, snakemake, etc).

But I'd really suggest focusing on your studies. Most programming that bioinformaticians do isn't all that technically challenging unless you're in methods development. The value of (good) bioinformaticians is that they can interpret and generate meaningful insights from the analyses they're performing and are aware of the caveats and shortcomings of such analyses. They can think of new ways to dig through data to ask interesting questions. During project planning, they can help design effective experiments to ensure the ensuing data is capable of actually answering the questions at hand.

You aren't really being paid for your programming skills most of the time, they're just needed to allow you to use the more valuable part of your skillset. Learn how to do science, get a grasp on basic biology, and get into a lab to get some real experience when you can.

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written by jared.andrews07 jared.andrews07

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