Where my Biofags at? What do you do? What would you say are the best subfields

Are there any jobs in those fields?

I wanna do astrobiology
Wouldn't that be so coooooool

nice blast post

I don't know what a blast post is

yes, and almost all the good ones are in academia and are highly competitive. This acts like a pleb filter.

alright, ill give you ac all in about 40 years after all the ecologists finally commit suicide over not having anything to research.

If it isn't computational biology it's a meme

Neurosci is high tier, soon to be top tier

>2013 + 4
>not saying life science instead of biology

Can ecologists explain why all bioslags can't get enough of the big math cock? Literally get blow jobs for helping then solve quadratic equations ... this is just sad, it's not even funny.

How is population biology? I want a job where I look at populations change and evolve.

I'm transferring to your school ASAP

I am decent at math. What jobs can I get in biology that isn't pure math but still let me use it?

>school

there's room for only one alpha male ...

theoretical eco/evo/bio are the most math oriented, but math can be readily applied pretty much everywhere

this is correct.
t. biochemist

if you have the "i'm bad at math" mindset bio becomes the literal only hard science that's accessible to you

>biology
>"cryonics"
>using anime pictures
Way to oust yourself as a disgusting and probably transexual high-schooler.
>ecology
>evolution
>"theoretical biology"
Aka "I just read the wikipedia entry for biology and now I pretend I'm an expert on Veeky Forums". Kill yourself faggot.

Computational, biophysics and biochemistry are the best "subfields" overall.

Your heart is almost as cold as some of our experiments. I like that.

agreed forgot to add it

>hey guys I like math do I fit in yet?

dogshit tier:
nutrition

don't think that falls under bio

"life science" doesn't fit stuff like molecular biology and genetics as well as "biology"

>Aka "I just read the wikipedia entry for biology and now I pretend I'm an expert on Veeky Forums". Kill yourself faggot.
This is quite an assumption, and I think you are mad because I left out your pet subject.
Theoretical science is heavy on math, this should go without contest. Ecology in particular uses partial diffs, graph theory, systems theory, et ala the most. Not to mention any statistics. Evolutionary science and theoretical biology should go without saying too. Ive been studying biology with autistic fervor ever since I was around 2 years old and could tell my mom since I what encyclopedia I wanted to read. You are a weird, hateful person.

Molecular biology and genetics are still characteristic of living systems. Using biology as a general term to refer to the science of life at higher scales of analysis than biological systems, like ecology and evolution doesn't make sense. So life science makes a a better general term as the general needs to supervene on all particulars in the set.

Wildlife fag here.

I get paid to hike and hold cute animals.

Also get to live in amazing places

comp bio is literally a meme

>people modelling biological systems use math
Wow what a fucking surprise buddy.
>theoretical biology should go without saying too
"""theoretical""" biology is a vague catch-all phrase that doesn't mean anything. Actually thinking it's a field of its own screams ignorance.
> Ive been studying biology with autistic fervor ever since I was around 2 years old
Congratulations my friend. Now come back when you've graduated high-school.
>You are a weird, hateful person.
Now that is something I cannot argue against.

>Actually thinking it's a field of its own screams ignorance.
the use of mathematical theory to model biological systems isn't a distinct field?
explain this rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/12/105/20141383 and the rest of the entire field of theoretical biology.
ecology, biochem and molecular biology are all the same in regards to their scope, they all have broad areas of inquiry. yet i dont see you contesting them as fields. you know nothing contrarian fuckboy. user was asking for a field to concentrate in. not a research focus.
if you have an undergraduate degree and i doubt you do, you need to go back to school, trade school. As you dont have a grasp on the material you are talking about

Medfag here. Is medicine a legitimate answer?
If not, I will go with ecology / animal behavior. That was my favorite course in undergrad.

also note that theoretical biology and theoretical ecology are not the same field. Ecological systems are not biological systems they are systems that result of the reciprocal interactions of biological systems. whether or not ecological systems are living systems is unclear, personally I believe they likely are, they definitely are not biological systems however.

Genetics here, going to try and get into PhD programs soon - hopefully something in genomics, possibly looking into the effects of abiotic stress on gene expression in hops or barley.

no its not, and im not just saying that because im in ecology. eco-ethological interactions are incredibly interesting, especially when eco-evolutionary dynamics are thrown in the mix.

I want to study evolution and community interation. What should I major in?

Ecologists - is it just the few in my University, or are most ecologists all dead set on the global warming train? In my required Ecology course, the professor legitimately promoted people not having children - especially in 3rd world countries - because of the carbon footprint or some shit.

I like ecology but I dont want to be a tree hugger, i just want to study interactions between organisms

math, minor in bio
yes, ecologists see the worst of global warning and understand the behavior of dynamic systems well
>promoted people not having children - especially in 3rd world countries
sounds like a doofus that doesnt understand actor-networks and the drivers of global change at all, to me/ that being said when explaining such complex problems to people who couldn't understand its very tempting to just scare them instead

>i just want to study interactions between organisms
thats how you end up making sweet love to a forest instead of hugging trees

>Minor in bio
I like bio too much. I am thinking of minoring in math though.

that works just fine.

Would Biostatistics count?

yes, statistics are one of the biggest things for what you want to do, just try to take enough courses that focus on marco biology.
The best thing that you can is read the literature in the fields you are interested in your free time and get research experience as an undergrad.

>explain this
Could just as easily be called computational biology or biophysics. As I said, it's a catch all phrase, not a distinct field. If believe otherwise you're most likely literally in high-school. Nobody becomes a "theoretical biologist".
>yet i dont see you contesting them as fields
Because they have established domains of inquiry, where-as anything from protein MD simulations to modelling population dynamics of flies in a pile of shit could fall under "le theoretical biology XD".
>if you have an undergraduate degree
I do, unlike you.

Sort of related, how difficult are most Stats classes compared to your normal sci maths like Calc 2?

Eh, he was more likely to be a doofus than just trying to scare people. He frequently displayed graphs in lecture that had half the figure missing, or no axis labels. Even if I asked him about it after class, he'd blow me off. Hell, he frequently dismissed class early and wasted time discussing things unrelated to the course material.

Worst part of all - he's absolutely obsessed with his research, something about algae, but his lab is staffed with incompetent undergraduate girls who are more looks than brains. They're known for causing problems with any equipment they use - one even waisted an entire tank of liquid nitrogen by not fully closing the valve.

>Have less children
I don't get this solution. As a Bio major he should understand that natural selection dictates that if you don't have children than the people who don't care will and overtake you. Humans aren't going to completely stop having children.

Theoretical biology is a tool. Modelling should always be followed and verified by experiments, as many mathematical models oversimplify biological systems too much to draw any worthwhile conclusions. Hence, theoretical biology is not an independent field; it fits within the field that the experimental part fits into. If you are modelling embryonic development, you're a developmental biologist, not a theoretical biologist. If you are modelling hysteresis in ecosystems, you are an ecologist (though a theoretical one), not a theoretical biologist. If you are not actually interested in experimentally verifying your theories by working together with experimental biologists, you are hardly contributing to biology.

I get what you are saying, I suppose I view theoretical biology in a stricter sense than most use. I view theoretical biology as a transdisciplinary research agenda aimed at identifying general properties of biological systems. This is why I separated theoretical ecology and theoretical evolution from theoretical biology. This is all just semantic confusion around 'biology'. I'm aware of the interface between empirical and theoretical science.

I hate to be a stickler but natural selection would not be involved. NS is a process that happens after behavior, what would really be at work is ecosystem(population) dynamics

Get bitten by ticks many times?

Biophysics grad student, research interests in in structural biology with an emphasis on protein-NMR methods development.

Any list of the best sub-fields is open to ambiguity, given how sub-fields are defined. I'd say that this list is decent: . I'd move chemical biology and structural biology to the top tier, then move microbiology to mid-tier.

I could say the "hottest" sub-fields, from scanning the literature, following the science blogosphere, talking to people in the fields, etc.
First, the world of molecular biology and genetics has been white-hot over the last few years, largely attributed in particular to the potential of genome editing by CRISPR and the CRISPR/Cas system.

Second, chemical biology is becoming more and more prominent, evolving as its own discipline, as a means to probe and characterize biological systems and pathways.

Third, in drug discovery, "difficult-to-target" epigenetic targets and protein-protein interactions are garnering plenty of attention.

Fourth, in structural biology, I still think we're in the Cryo-EM craze, but the initial excitement is starting to ease up. No doubt that structural biology has undergone a transformation and EM is hot, but now EM is settling in, more or less, and any talk of it taking over has subsided. Still, if you want a tenure-track position at an R1, you'd have (relatively) good odds as a microscopist.

guys tell me, what are some popular views in theoretical biology.

Subjects in theoretical biology in this sensethat have been of interest to me lately is the free energy principle and especially biosemiotics

I know who you are faggot, gtfo.

Starting my first year of pharmacy school
I'm fucked because of the insane saturation. Every pre-med failure/dropout has pharm as the second choice so yeah.

There is no best subfields. Bio is fucking dead and you're going to be poor forever.

Biophysics and evolution are absolutely top-tier.

Genomics is reaching meme status.

Ecology is massively underrated.

ohhhh no, gotta blast

i really should become a namefag so plebs can hate me harder

>pre-med
>biology
REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
premeds, and to a lesser extent trustafarians ruin the intellectual atmosphere in undergrad bio programs.
life sciences are not about making money. We aren't a part of your system. As life is literally externalized in consumer economies.

>B
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k
enjoy being poor

I thought biochemistry was considered a subfield of chemistry, not biology? Or is it both?

Any other sensory physiology / chemical ecology fags here?

It's a useless distinction; these fields lie in the overlap with biology and other fields. "Pure" qualitative biology itself is slowly becoming a thing of the past, and cutting edge research is becoming more and more reliant on the quantitative methods and ways of thinking.

a lot of biochemistry is actually pretty physics based, tons of thermodynamics and shit in it as well.

enjoy not having to do critical thinking. The sooner you realize money doesnt bring you happiness, the more freeing your life and opportunities to make yourself happy become.

>money doesnt bring you happiness
If that was the case mr.sheklestein wouldn't care so much about his profits

you are assuming mr. sheklestein is happy.

Oh he is
Stop justifying your wage slavery user

there have been too many advances in humanity from microbio despite the extremely small pool of experimental microbia to move it into mid tier

can be both depending on what you emphasize

>Stop justifying your wage slavery user
wage slaves make more than my stipend, i can assure you. But im happier than most, money doesnt take that away from me, nor would it add to it.

I treat my clothes with permethrin so it's not an issue.

I'm the biosemiotics fag and into ecology so it's of particular interest to me, but I'm not into physics or chemistry so it's relatively unaccessible.
Tell me about what you do, do you focus on anything in particular? Like the interactions between soil biotia

>Want to study evolutionary biology
>Don't know if I should actually major in evolutionary biology or do something that is similar with good job security
>Population genetics, Biostatistics, Theoretical biology, Community ecology, computational biology, ect, ect too many fucking choices without knowing what's best

Enjoy working 60 hours a week and being stressed all the time with little sleep.
I don't care if you make twice as much money as I do, I wont envy you. Premeds are dead inside and boring and live an unhappy life.

just go as a normal bio major and take classes that interests you as electives. if it's possible, ask a evolutionary biologist for which classes that you should take.

Neuroscience. My PhD is in Alzheimer's

Biochem major here
Is bioinformatics any good? I really don't know what to do after my bachelors, bioinformatics sounds good but I dunno, I want something math related to back my degree.

Honestly, I'm not a biology guy, but biomedical engineering is a possibility for me. Sounds really interesting.

There's a lot of random facts about various aspects of the disease from the plaques to changes in neurotransmitters and such. What do you think are the truly important aspects of the disease?

bio major here

I'm taking a bioinformatics course this year for my undergrad, my tutor told me it generally boosts employability a lot, especially with computer-based work, so it's a good choice. I'm backing it up with other lab-based courses. I don't know what to do after graduation either, my thinking is that a bioinfo course opens many dry lab opportunities (or pure tech jobs) on its own, and the degree itself is fitted towards lab work, so it's best to have as many options available.

If you're talking about a bachelor's, don't. Just take my advice and stay away. Do something more general like electrical or mechanical first, and if you're still interested in bio stuff, do master's in BME and proceed accordingly. A bachelor's in BME is way too narrow. The jobs that exist in this emerging market are available only to very specialised graduates (i.e. PhDs and senior researchers). You can't hit the other engineering jobs since EEs or MEs are preferred, and you can't hit the lab jobs since the biology and biochemistry faggots have a monopoly. The market is simply not ready for BME undergrads. Unless you're 100% sure you want to take it all the way to BME and continue with a PhD, don't bottleneck your choices.

Is it really better to get a general degree when you are going for your graduate?

I have my PhD in Biology and a specialization in quantitative ecology. My research focuses on understanding the abiotic and biotic factors that facilitate biological invasions, then using that information to predict invader exotic distributions. I guess I'd have to say the best subfield is ecology (especially field-based), but I'm biased.

how do you deal with getting shit on by harder biology fields?
Just realize we are all really jealous of your field trips, it comes from the heart. But man all the biochemistry and molecular biology PIs really shit on ecology kek

I've never really been bothered by how other disciplines view my own. I know the value of my work and don't care if others think less of it. Besides, it's always fun when some biochemist or molecular biologist who is stats-phobic comes and asks me for help with their simple analyses. It's an easy way to beef up my CV with second or third authorships.

Im currently studying WNS In bats

There is a fungus called psuedogymnoascus destructans that grows on bat skin (its substrate) and prevents them from hibernating, killing them.

There is a virus that was discovered that lives in the fungus that --may-- cause the increase in virulence

The issue is that bats in europe who are affected by this fungus do not die

the fungus in europe as it appears does NOT have this virus living inside them

What im studying is whether or not this virus has evolved to increase the virulence of the fungus in North America psuedogymnoascus destructans species.

Since the semester started I have been mailing various professors who have done the research about this fungus (there are less than 100 papers on this since its discovery in 2015)

Scott?