Biological Technician Assist biological and medical scientists. Set up, operate, and maintain laboratory instruments and equipment, monitor experiments, collect data and samples, make observations, and calculate and record results. May analyze organic substances, such as blood, food, and drugs.
Biological Technician is Also Know as
In different settings, Biological Technician is titled as
- Biological Science Laboratory Technician (Biological Science Lab Tech)
- Biological Science Technician
- Biological Technician
- Laboratory Technician
- Marine Fisheries Technician
- Research Assistant
- Research Associate
- Research Specialist
- Research Technician
- Wildlife Biology Technician
Education and Training of Biological Technician
Biological Technician is categorized in Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
Experience Required for Biological Technician
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Education Required for Biological Technician
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Degrees Related to Biological Technician
- Bachelor in Biology/Biological Sciences, General
- Associate Degree Courses in Biology/Biological Sciences, General
- Masters Degree Courses in Biology/Biological Sciences, General
- Bachelor in Biomedical Sciences, General
- Associate Degree Courses in Biomedical Sciences, General
- Masters Degree Courses in Biomedical Sciences, General
- Bachelor in Biochemistry
- Associate Degree Courses in Biochemistry
- Masters Degree Courses in Biochemistry
- Bachelor in Molecular Biology
- Associate Degree Courses in Molecular Biology
- Masters Degree Courses in Molecular Biology
- Bachelor in Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biology
- Associate Degree Courses in Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biology
- Masters Degree Courses in Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biology
- Bachelor in Microbiology, General
- Associate Degree Courses in Microbiology, General
- Masters Degree Courses in Microbiology, General
Training Required for Biological Technician
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Related Ocuupations
Some Ocuupations related to Biological Technician in different industries are
- Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists
- Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians
- Histotechnologists
- Agricultural Technicians
- Cytogenetic Technologists
- Histology Technicians
- Chemical Technicians
- Bioinformatics Technicians
- Calibration Technologists and Technicians
- Nanotechnology Engineering Technologists and Technicians
- Molecular and Cellular Biologists
- Microbiologists
- Geneticists
- Biochemists and Biophysicists
- Biologists
- Bioinformatics Scientists
- Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers
- Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary
- Chemists
- Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists
What Do Biological Technician do?
- Keep detailed logs of all work-related activities.
- Monitor laboratory work to ensure compliance with set standards.
- Isolate, identify and prepare specimens for examination.
- Use computers, computer-interfaced equipment, robotics or high-technology industrial applications to perform work duties.
- Conduct research, or assist in the conduct of research, including the collection of information and samples, such as blood, water, soil, plants and animals.
- Set up, adjust, calibrate, clean, maintain, and troubleshoot laboratory and field equipment.
- Provide technical support and services for scientists and engineers working in fields such as agriculture, environmental science, resource management, biology, and health sciences.
- Clean, maintain and prepare supplies and work areas.
- Participate in the research, development, or manufacturing of medicinal and pharmaceutical preparations.
- Conduct standardized biological, microbiological or biochemical tests and laboratory analyses to evaluate the quantity or quality of physical or chemical substances in food or other products.
- Analyze experimental data and interpret results to write reports and summaries of findings.
- Measure or weigh compounds and solutions for use in testing or animal feed.
- Monitor and observe experiments, recording production and test data for evaluation by research personnel.
- Examine animals and specimens to detect the presence of disease or other problems.
- Conduct or supervise operational programs, such as fish hatcheries, greenhouses and livestock production programs.
- Feed livestock or laboratory animals.
- Input data into databases.
- Place orders for laboratory equipment and supplies.
Qualities of Good Biological Technician
- 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).
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
- Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- 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.
- Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- 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.
- Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- 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).
- Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
- 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.
- 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.
- Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
- Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
- Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
- 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.
- 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).
- Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
- Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
- 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.
- Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
- Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
- Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
- Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
- 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.
- 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.
- Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
- 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.
- 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.
- Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
- Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
- Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
- Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
- 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.
- Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
- Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Tools Used by Biological Technician
- Aerobic growth chambers
- Agitators
- Amino acid analyzers
- Anaerobic growth chambers
- Analytical balances
- Autoclaves
- Automated cell counters
- Automated microplate ELISA readers
- Automated tissue/slide stainers
- Automatic pipetters
- Balances
- Bioanalyzers
- Biological containment hoods
- Centrifuges
- Conductivity meters
- Coulter counters
- Cytofluorographs
- Deoxyribonucleic acid DNA sequencers
- Deoxyribonucleic acid DNA synthesizers
- Dissection microscopes
- Distillation equipment
- Drying ovens
- Electrophorators
- Electrophoresis boxes
- Flow cytometers
- Fluoride electrodes
- Fluorometers
- Full-face respirators
- Gas chromatographs GC
- Gel chromatography equipment
- Gel imaging apparatus
- Glass washers
- Hematology cell counters
- High-voltage electrophoresis apparatus
- Homogenizers
- Hybridization ovens
- Imaging systems
- Incubator microscopes
- Incubators
- Inherit sequencing analysis systems
- Inoculating loops
- Inverted microscopes
- Laboratory ovens
- Laser printers
- Light/tissue culture microscopes
- Liquid handling robots
- Liquid nitrogen freezers
- Microcentrifuges
- Microplate readers
- Microplate shakers
- Microplate washers
- Multichannel pipetters
- Notebook computers
- Paraffin embedding consoles
- Personal computers
- Petri dishes
- pH meters
- Polymerase chain reaction PCR equipment
- Polymerase chain reaction PCR thermocyclers
- Protein sequencers
- Radioactive counters
- Refrigerated centrifuges
- Robotic laboratory equipment
- Spectrophotometers
- Sterilizers
- Stirring hotplates
- Test tubes
- Titration burets
- Ultracentrifuges
- Ultralow freezers
- Ultramicrotomes
- Ultrasonic cleaners
- Ultraviolet water purification systems
- Vacuum dehydration units
- Volumetric glassware
- Water jacketed incubators
- Waterbaths
Technology Skills required for Biological Technician
- Adobe Acrobat
- Adobe Photoshop
- BD Biosciences CellQuest
- BoxShade
- ClustalW
- Corel WordPerfect Office Suite
- Database software
- ESRI ArcGIS software
- Gene Codes Sequencher
- Gene Runner
- Geographic information system GIS software
- Graphics software
- Harvard Graphics
- IBM Lotus 1-2-3
- Laboratory information management system LIMS
- MapInfo MapMarker
- Microsoft Access
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Project
- Microsoft Word
- Phrap
- Phred
- PolyBayes
- Primer3
- SAS
- Statistical software
- Systat Software SigmaPlot
- Systat Software TableCurve
- Thomson EndNote
- Word processing software