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It got me into programming. One day I was trying to VPN into my workplace, and I started experiencing network connectivity problems which were very rare. I went

It got me into programming. One day I was trying to VPN into my workplace, and I started experiencing network connectivity problems which were very rare. I went on FB and asked if anyone else was experiencing connectivity problems. A friend of mine who was a developer linked me to a post on HN where the service degradations were being discussed. I had never heard of HN and went back to the front page. One of the first links on the front page was a submission advertising the fact that Coursera (which I had also never heard of) was just launching a data science course track which also covered machine learning. I was in pure bio at the time, but I had heard about machine learning and data science at work and thought they sounded very cool but would be unapproachable to someone without a strong math background. When I saw the link, I said "oh fuck yea I should totally look into this!". I checked out the course track, learned basic R, and have never looked back. I've now fully transitioned into development and out of bio :D HN also inspired me to launch my own company, which I never even thought of as an option until I started spending time on this site.

miketery 9y ago
What are the challenges in bio like compared to tech industry interms of innovatation, opportunity, or otherwise? I'm considering transition in that direction.
- Thriptic 9y ago
  Are you going from bio into tech or tech into bio? Also what exactly are you interested in doing? Both of those domains are very broad.
  - miketery 9y ago
    From tech to bio. Primarily diving into the processes involved with DNA, RNA, and proteins (i.e. following CRISPR hype).
    - Thriptic 9y ago
      If you're interested in dealing with the wet lab side of these processes, the biggest immediate challenges will be amassing the underlying domain knowledge and credentials. Unlike in tech, industry labs care a lot about formal credentials, and it will be hard to find a real research position without at least a masters or PhD in the field. Ignoring credentialing, the biggest challenge is that you're trying to develop products in a space where the systems you're working in are not fully understood yet. This means that there is a lot more underlying uncertainty in everything you work on. You're also entering a highly regulated space if you're talking about therapeutics, which impacts development processes, timelines, and costs. There is a ton of room for innovation in the space and CRISPR is hot new tech, but expect everything to move substantially slower than in tech. If you want to be a developer who works on bio-related problems, that's a totally different story. Frequently developers in bio are not as good as what you would find at a big tech company, so there is very high demand for people who know what they are doing and who also have the domain XP to understand the problems. I would be happy to chat about it more in depth sometime.
      - miketery 9y ago
        That would be great. My understanding is very shallow, last bio class was in high school. But I'd be applying for admission in ~September or self learning on the side. My email is my username at gmail.

miketery 9y ago

What are the challenges in bio like compared to tech industry interms of innovatation, opportunity, or otherwise? I'm considering transition in that direction.

Thriptic 9y ago
Are you going from bio into tech or tech into bio? Also what exactly are you interested in doing? Both of those domains are very broad.
- miketery 9y ago
  From tech to bio. Primarily diving into the processes involved with DNA, RNA, and proteins (i.e. following CRISPR hype).
  - Thriptic 9y ago
    If you're interested in dealing with the wet lab side of these processes, the biggest immediate challenges will be amassing the underlying domain knowledge and credentials. Unlike in tech, industry labs care a lot about formal credentials, and it will be hard to find a real research position without at least a masters or PhD in the field. Ignoring credentialing, the biggest challenge is that you're trying to develop products in a space where the systems you're working in are not fully understood yet. This means that there is a lot more underlying uncertainty in everything you work on. You're also entering a highly regulated space if you're talking about therapeutics, which impacts development processes, timelines, and costs. There is a ton of room for innovation in the space and CRISPR is hot new tech, but expect everything to move substantially slower than in tech. If you want to be a developer who works on bio-related problems, that's a totally different story. Frequently developers in bio are not as good as what you would find at a big tech company, so there is very high demand for people who know what they are doing and who also have the domain XP to understand the problems. I would be happy to chat about it more in depth sometime.
    - miketery 9y ago
      That would be great. My understanding is very shallow, last bio class was in high school. But I'd be applying for admission in ~September or self learning on the side. My email is my username at gmail.