
Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions โ written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Geneticists
Introduction
Overview
Overview
A geneticist is a scientist who studies genetics, the science of heredity and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be a physician, but not always. A geneticist can also be employed as a teacher or researcher. Some geneticists perform experiments and analyze data to interpret the inheritance of traits.
Training
Training
Most geneticists complete at least a Bachelorโs degree and many continue on to a more advanced degree. Geneticists participate in courses from many areas, such as biology, chemistry, physics, microbiology, cell biology, English, and mathematics. They also participate in more specific genetics courses such as molecular genetics, transmission genetics, population genetics, quantitative genetics, ecological genetics, and genomics.
Geneticists can work in many different fields, doing a variety of jobs. There are many careers for geneticists in medicine, agriculture, wildlife, general sciences or many other fields. Listed below are a few examples of careers a geneticist may pursue.
- Genetic counseling
- Gene therapy
- Pharmacogenomics
- Plant breeding
- Animal breeding
- Genomics
- Biotechnology
- Proteomics
- Microbial genetics
- Teaching
- Management of a Lab
- Sales and Marketing of science products
- Publishing of scientific material
- Patenting procedures
- Paternity testing
- Forensic DNA
- Chemical warfare
