What it pays
Government survey numbers — not estimates, not ads.
Half of all Biological Scientists, All Other in the U.S. earn more than $98,920 a year — the middle 80% land between $60,430 and $168,010. About 55,850 people in the U.S. do this work. Figures are for the U.S. occupation group “Biological Scientists, All Other”. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, published 2025.) In India, Professionals earn about ₹38,298 a month on average — around ₹4.6 lakh a year (government PLFS survey via ILOSTAT, occupation-family figure).
$98,920typical pay / year
55,850people in this work
$168,010+top 10% earn
₹4.6 lakha year in India (family avg)
Think you get this job?Six quick questions on how it really works — with a hint and the reason behind every answer.
Test yourself →The work, task by task
These are the real jobs-to-be-done, not a wish list. Each task shows where we found it, and the prompt underneath is written for that exact task.
Learning2
Assist scientists in various fields including biotechnology and pharmaceutics
+Support the biotech and pharmaceutical teams by analysing the latest sequencing and assay outputs,…
Assist scientists in various fields including biotechnology and pharmaceutics
+Support the biotech and pharmaceutical teams by analysing the latest sequencing and assay outputs, standardise and upload cleaned metadata to the experiment database, produce a two-page summary of key findings and uncertainties, and prepare datasets for web access by Friday.
The tools that do the workGitESCOO*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Create or modify web-based bioinformatics tools.
+Prototype the web endpoint that serves variant annotations, wire it to the sample metadata, add…
Create or modify web-based bioinformatics tools.
+Prototype the web endpoint that serves variant annotations, wire it to the sample metadata, add authentication and a simple JSON response for gene queries, then run the unit tests and deploy the build to the staging site for user testing tomorrow.
The tools that do the workDjangoDockerESCOjob descriptionsO*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Analysing3
Gather and analyse biological data
+Pull the last six months of sequencing runs, QC metrics and sample metadata, combine and normalise the reads,…
Gather and analyse biological data
+Pull the last six months of sequencing runs, QC metrics and sample metadata, combine and normalise the reads, run differential expression and generate a slide deck summarising top hits with figures and method notes for Friday's lab meeting.
The tools that do the workApache HadoopGitHubESCOjob descriptionsO*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Build and query biological databases
+Design the schema, load the existing annotation files and sample tables, create indexes for fast variant…
Build and query biological databases
+Design the schema, load the existing annotation files and sample tables, create indexes for fast variant queries and write example queries to extract samples by gene, variant consequence and collection date so the team can validate performance.
The tools that do the workAmazon Web Services AWSGitHubESCOjob descriptionsO*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Develop data models and databases.
+Draft the normalized entity-relationship model for samples, variants and annotations, define primary keys and…
Develop data models and databases.
+Draft the normalized entity-relationship model for samples, variants and annotations, define primary keys and relationships, create migration scripts and benchmark expected query plans on our test dataset before the design review on Thursday.
The tools that do the workC++GitHubjob descriptionsO*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
The daily work15
Communicate research results through conference presentations, scientific publications, or project reports.
+Draft a 12-minute conference talk and a 3,000-word manuscript that clearly links our GWAS and RNA-seq…
Communicate research results through conference presentations, scientific publications, or project reports.
+Draft a 12-minute conference talk and a 3,000-word manuscript that clearly links our GWAS and RNA-seq findings on colorectal cancer, include methods, key figures with captions, and a one-paragraph lay summary for the funding report by next Wednesday.
The tools that do the workGitO*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Consult with researchers to analyze problems, recommend technology-based solutions, or determine computational strategies.
+Review the lab's pain points with sequence alignment speed and storage costs, propose three computational…
Consult with researchers to analyze problems, recommend technology-based solutions, or determine computational strategies.
+Review the lab's pain points with sequence alignment speed and storage costs, propose three computational strategies with estimated compute hours and storage needs, and schedule a one-hour meeting with Dr. Alvarez and the lead technician next Tuesday to decide.
The tools that do the workDockerO*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Confer with departments, such as marketing, business development, or operations, to coordinate product development or improvement.
+Prepare a two-page brief for product and business development that explains our variant-calling limits,…
Confer with departments, such as marketing, business development, or operations, to coordinate product development or improvement.
+Prepare a two-page brief for product and business development that explains our variant-calling limits, suggests three feature improvements, and lists potential market benefits and regulatory risks for the product team meeting Friday.
The tools that do the workGitHubO*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Recommend new systems and processes to improve operations.
+Audit current pipelines and write a prioritized plan to reduce failed runs by 50 percent, including process…
Recommend new systems and processes to improve operations.
+Audit current pipelines and write a prioritized plan to reduce failed runs by 50 percent, including process changes, monitoring checkpoints, and a timeline with owners to present to operations on Monday.
The tools that do the workBashO*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Prepare summary statistics of information regarding human genomes.
+Generate summary tables and figures of allele frequencies, variant counts per chromosome, and sample QC…
Prepare summary statistics of information regarding human genomes.
+Generate summary tables and figures of allele frequencies, variant counts per chromosome, and sample QC metrics for the 2,400 human genomes, include methods and a one-paragraph interpretation for the genetics team by Thursday.
The tools that do the workIBM SPSS StatisticsO*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Mine diverse biological data types
+Assemble an analysis plan to integrate exome, transcriptome, and methylation datasets, list required…
Mine diverse biological data types
+Assemble an analysis plan to integrate exome, transcriptome, and methylation datasets, list required preprocessing steps, feature selection ideas, and a timeline to deliver preliminary results in six weeks.
The tools that do the workApache Hadoopjob descriptions
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Maintain database
+Update the gene-variant database schema to add the new sample metadata fields, backfill missing patient IDs…
Maintain database
+Update the gene-variant database schema to add the new sample metadata fields, backfill missing patient IDs from last quarter, verify foreign key integrity, and push a tested migration to production before Friday deploy window.
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Present reports
+Prepare the quarterly analysis slide deck showing differential expression results, include methods slide with…
Present reports
+Prepare the quarterly analysis slide deck showing differential expression results, include methods slide with sample counts and QC metrics, generate the figures at publication resolution, and email the deck to Dr. Liu and the lab head by Wednesday noon.
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Gather data
+Collect raw sequencing run metadata and clinical consent flags for the new cohort, reconcile sample IDs…
Gather data
+Collect raw sequencing run metadata and clinical consent flags for the new cohort, reconcile sample IDs against the LIMS export, flag missing consents, and drop a validated CSV into the shared project folder by end of day Tuesday.
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams
+Join the oncology team meeting, review the sequence QC dashboard, flag any missing metadata from the clinic…
Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams
+Join the oncology team meeting, review the sequence QC dashboard, flag any missing metadata from the clinic coordinators, propose one analysis to resolve the discordant samples, and assign follow-ups before Friday afternoon.
The tools that do the workGitHubDockerjob descriptions
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Report progress to project leaders
+Prepare the two-page progress brief for Dr. Morales and Dr. Chen: summarise completed pipelines, percentage…
Report progress to project leaders
+Prepare the two-page progress brief for Dr. Morales and Dr. Chen: summarise completed pipelines, percentage of samples processed, blockers in sample accessioning, and next milestones for the grant review on Monday.
The tools that do the workIBM SPSS Statisticsjob descriptions
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Report on their findings
+Draft the findings summary for the lab meeting: state the differential expression hits, the validation…
Report on their findings
+Draft the findings summary for the lab meeting: state the differential expression hits, the validation status, confidence intervals, and one recommended validation experiment to start next week.
The tools that do the workGitHubESCO
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Collect DNA samples
+Coordinate with the clinic to schedule sample pickups, confirm consent forms and chain-of-custody labels,…
Collect DNA samples
+Coordinate with the clinic to schedule sample pickups, confirm consent forms and chain-of-custody labels, record collection metadata for each donor, and notify the wet lab to expect deliveries by Wednesday.
The tools that do the workDjangoESCO
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Discover data patterns
+Run the exploratory pattern scan on the latest cohort, flag recurring variant–phenotype correlations,…
Discover data patterns
+Run the exploratory pattern scan on the latest cohort, flag recurring variant–phenotype correlations, visualise top three patterns, and prepare a short note for the data science meeting on Thursday.
The tools that do the workApache HadoopGitHubESCO
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Interpret current data
+Recalculate the current cohort statistics, update the central dataset with cleaned entries, produce the…
Interpret current data
+Recalculate the current cohort statistics, update the central dataset with cleaned entries, produce the summary tables for the weekly report, and highlight any outliers needing recheck by Monday.
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Says who?
These are the pages we read to build this. Open any of them and check us.
The logs, files & records this job keeps
Shared with other careers — the same record means something different in each.
Related careers
Same family of work — each with its own tasks and prompts.
The LLOS Work Atlas is the world's largest evidenced task library — a map of human work, with a ready prompt behind every task. 1,774 careers · every task named by the sources that witnessed it — O*NET, ESCO, real job descriptions, Wikipedia — and the deepest tasks by several at once. And it is honest about limits: where AI cannot help, the map says so.
The rest of the map
Same library, five ways in.
Copyright © LLOS.ai · 2026 — original pedagogy, voice, and design — all rights reserved.
Built on public evidence: O*NET®, ESCO, Wikipedia, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ILOSTAT. All sources & licenses
Built on public evidence: O*NET®, ESCO, Wikipedia, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ILOSTAT. All sources & licenses