How to become a Biochemists and Biophysicist 2024

Biochemists and Biophysicist Study the chemical composition or physical principles of living cells and organisms, their electrical and mechanical energy, and related phenomena. May conduct research to further understanding of the complex chemical combinations and reactions involved in metabolism, reproduction, growth, and heredity. May determine the effects of foods, drugs, serums, hormones, and other substances on tissues and vital processes of living organisms.

Biochemists and Biophysicist is Also Know as

In different settings, Biochemists and Biophysicist is titled as

Analytical Research Chemist
Biochemist
Biophysics Researcher
Scientist

Education and Training of Biochemists and Biophysicist

Biochemists and Biophysicist is categorized in Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Biochemists and Biophysicist

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Education Required for Biochemists and Biophysicist

Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Degrees Related to Biochemists and Biophysicist

Training Required for Biochemists and Biophysicist

Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Biochemists and Biophysicist in different industries are

What Do Biochemists and Biophysicist do?

Prepare reports or recommendations, based upon research outcomes.
Develop new methods to study the mechanisms of biological processes.
Manage laboratory teams or monitor the quality of a team's work.
Share research findings by writing scientific articles or by making presentations at scientific conferences.
Develop or execute tests to detect diseases, genetic disorders, or other abnormalities.
Develop or test new drugs or medications intended for commercial distribution.
Study the mutations in organisms that lead to cancer or other diseases.
Study spatial configurations of submicroscopic molecules, such as proteins, using x-rays or electron microscopes.
Study the chemistry of living processes, such as cell development, breathing and digestion, or living energy changes, such as growth, aging, or death.
Determine the three-dimensional structure of biological macromolecules.
Prepare pharmaceutical compounds for commercial distribution.
Research the chemical effects of substances, such as drugs, serums, hormones, or food, on tissues or vital processes.
Research how characteristics of plants or animals are carried through successive generations.
Develop methods to process, store, or use foods, drugs, or chemical compounds.
Investigate the nature, composition, or expression of genes or research how genetic engineering can impact these processes.
Study physical principles of living cells or organisms and their electrical or mechanical energy, applying methods and knowledge of mathematics, physics, chemistry, or biology.
Produce pharmaceutically or industrially useful proteins, using recombinant DNA technology.
Isolate, analyze, or synthesize vitamins, hormones, allergens, minerals, or enzymes and determine their effects on body functions.
Design or perform experiments with equipment, such as lasers, accelerators, or mass spectrometers.
Teach or advise undergraduate or graduate students or supervise their research.
Research transformations of substances in cells, using atomic isotopes.
Examine the molecular or chemical aspects of immune system functioning.
Design or build laboratory equipment needed for special research projects.
Write grant proposals to obtain funding for research.

Qualities of Good Biochemists and Biophysicist

Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.

Tools Used by Biochemists and Biophysicist

Amino acid analyzers
Analytical balances
Analytical ultracentrifuges
Argon lasers
Atomic force microscopes
Auto gamma counters
Autoclaves
Automated electrophoresis equipment
Automatic pipetters
Automatic x ray film developers
Balances
Basic vapor pressure osmometers
Beakers
Binocular light compound microscopes
Biofreezers
Biological safety hoods
Brewster angle microscopes
Capillary electrophoresis equipment
Carbon dioxide CO2 incubators
Cell sorters
Charge-coupled device CCD cameras
Chemical fume hoods
Chemistry analyzers
Circular dichroism spectroscopes
Circulating water cooling systems
Computerized axial tomography CAT scan equipment
Confocal microscopes
Continuous flow centrifuges
Cryocut microtomes
Cryogenic freezers
Cryomicroscopes
Cryostat tissue microtomes
Cryotransmission electron microscopes
Cytospin centrifuges
Darkroom equipment
Deoxyribonucleic acid DNA sequencers
Desktop computers
Dichroic beamsplitters
Differential scanning calorimeters
Dual wavelength spectroscopes
Electroencephalography EEG equipment
Electron microscopes
Electron paramagnetic resonance EPR spectrometers
Electron spin resonance spectroscopes
Electrophoresis power supplies
Erlenmeyer flasks
Fermenters
Filtering funnels
Flame ionization detectors FID
Flexi-dry lyophilizers
Flow cytometers
Fluorescence spectroscopes
Fourier transform infrared FTIR spectroscopes
Freeze dryers
Funnels
Gamma ray irradiators
Gas chromatographs GC
Gel boxes
Glassware adaptors
Glassware condensers
Graduated cylinders
Growth chambers
Heat blocks
Heat incubators
Heating mantles
Hemoglobin analyzers
High-pressure high-temperature reactors
High-pressure liquid chromatographs
Homogenizers
Hot plates
Incubators
Inverted microscopes
Ionometers
Isothermal titration calorimeters ITC
Krypton lasers
Laboratory convection ovens
Laboratory vacuum pumps
Laminar flow hoods
Langmuir balances
Large upright microscopes
Laser Doppler zeta potential analyzers
Laser induced temperature jump nanosecond relaxation spectrometer systems
Laser particle sizers
Laser printers
Laser tweezers
Lasers
Light scattering devices
Linear accelerators
Liquid handling robots
Liquid nuclear magnetic resonance NMR equipment
Magnetic piconewton-force transducers
Magnetic tweezers
Mainframe computers
Mass spectrometers
Medical magnetic resonance imaging MRI equipment
Medical magnetic resonance imaging MRI microscopes
Megafuge centrifuges
Mettler balances
Microcalorimeters
Microcentrifuges
Microdosimeters
Microinjectors
Microphysiometers
Microplate readers
Microscope slides
Microsusceptometers
Mossbauer spectroscopes
Multi-angle elastic-light scattering systems
Multichannel detectors
Nanoscopes
Near-field light microscopes
Neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet Nd:YAG lasers
Notebook computers
Nuclear magnetic resonance NMR spectroscopes
Optical tweezers
Orbital shakers
Pasteur pipettes
Peptide synthesizers
Personal computers
pH meters
Phosphorimager video cameras
Phosphorimagers
Pipettes
Plotters
Positron emission tomography PET scanners
Power amplifiers
Protein sequencers
Raman difference spectrometers
Refrigerated centrifuges
Rheometers
Rotating anode X ray generators
Sample concentrators
Sapphire lasers
Sartorius balances
Scanners
Scanning electron microscopes SEM
Scanning laser microscopes
Scintillation counters
Shaking incubators
Shaking waterbaths
Signal generators
Solid state diode lasers
Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance NMR equipment
Sonicators
Specific gravity balances
Spectrofluorimeters
Spectrophotometers
Spectropolarimeters
Stopped-flow spectrophotometers
Synchrotrons
Tabletop centrifuges
Test tubes
Thermal imagers
Top-loading electronic balances
Transillumination microscopes
Transmission electron microscopes TEM
Ultracentrifuges
Ultramicrotomes
Ultrasonic cleaners
Ultraviolet UV spectroscopes
Ultraviolet UV transilluminators
Vacuum freezers
Vibratome tissue sectioning systems
Video enhanced differential interference contrast microscopes
Video positioning equipment
Viscometers
Water baths
Water purification units
X ray crystallography equipment
X ray microscopes

Technology Skills required for Biochemists and Biophysicist

3D graphics software
Accelrys Cerius2
Accelrys FELIX
Accelrys Insight II
Accelrys QAUNTA
Adobe Photoshop
Analysis and building software
Assisted model building with energy refinement AMBER
AutoQuant AutoDeblur
Basic Local Alignment Search Tool BLAST
Carrier-mediated transport software
Chang Bioscience ToolKit
ChemInnovation Software Chem 4-D
Chemistry at Harvard Molecular Mechanics CHARMm
Crystallography & NMR System (CNS)
Crystallography software
Dassault Systemes Abaqus
Docking and ligand binding software
Elsevier MDL ISIS/Draw
Email software
ESRI What if?
Expression DNA and protein sequence software
Extensible markup language XML
Fujitsu BioMedCache
Fujitsu MOPAC
Gaussian software
GE Healthcare ImageQuant TL
Genetics computer group GSG software
GEPASI
Golden Helix ChemTree
Golden Helix HelixTree
Graphics software
Hodgkin-Huxley Model software
IBM SPSS Statistics
Intelligent Imaging Innovations SlideBook
Internet browser software
ItemTracker
JustBio SeqPainter
Laboratory information management system LIMS
Linux
Macroscopic diffusion software
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Visio
Microsoft Word
Minitab
Molecular Devices Corporation MetaFluor
Molecular Devices Corporation MetaMorph
Molecular Networks GmbH Biochemical Pathways
Molecular simulation software
Molecular Simulations WebLab ViewerPro
Multivariate statistical program MVSP software
Perl
PREMIER Biosoft Array Designer
Presentation software
Python
SAP software
SAS
Semichem AMPAC
Sequence database software
Shrodinger Jaguar
Statistical software
Structure prediction software
The MathWorks MATLAB
Tripos SYBYL
Video analysis software
Voltage-gated ion channels software
Wavefunction Spartan
Wavefunction Titan
Word processing software
Yet another scientific artificial reality application YASARA software

US Universities

How to become Biochemists and Biophysicist in 2024