Bioinformatics Degrees

Bioinformatics is the rapidly expanding area of biotechnology most concerned with using information technologies to analyze biological data, the most important of which is DNA. Bioinformaticists with a broad understanding of biology and a background in computer science are currently being hired in great numbers by drug companies, universities, and government institutions. Students interested in entering the field should plan on majoring in bioinformatics or a related program during their undergraduate studies, and may also choose to obtain a graduate degree in the field. Thanks to a 10 percent predicted annual growth rate in the profession, along with starting salaries that range from $40,000 to $100,000 a year, experts have dubbed bioinformatics the "career choice of the decade."