I did some investigative reporting today. On what you may ask? Well basically what it would mean for me to be a PhD student in biostatistics. What it would mean in terms of what I could do, what the future challenges are for the field, and things like that.

What I found is that the PhD program would be course intensive at first, and from there it would move on to developing novel statistical methods. The novel part is important as it also counts for the "original research" requirement so often bandied about with that PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) thing. Yes.

But on the whole, the field of bioinformatics, biostatistics, what have you, appears to be one to me that is waiting for technology to happen. That is to say, the field is less likely to be advanced by nifty statistical methodologies that somehow can predict how the human genetic code is translated to create life, and is more likely to be advanced by cheaper more effective microchips and micropossessors which can capture all that cool RNA gene expression data which is working all the time in your body and making you, you.

Of course, this now brings on a daunting information technology job. One that demands high speed high capacity servers and brings a company like Google to mind in a hurry. But also, I must say, that it also appears to me to be an appealing entrepreneurial challenge, and one which could arguably have a greater impact on the field of genetic medicine than fancy statistical/computational techniques.

Of course, in fairness, I should also say that said techniques are yet vital, and that both should at least, develop at the same time.

I do think that the genome war provides both, and gives a lot more background information of all the key players including those who worked for Venter and those who worked for the other side with the Human Genome Project. I learned of several new business men, and several new papers published at the time which I will follow up on. Particularly those which deals with all the new computer science, bioinformatics if you will, which was founded at the time.

As a final note I will say that Venter's account of the war is better written and easier to understand. Had I not read Venter's book first, this whole book would have made much less sense.

No matter where you stand on the "Gene wars", I can't recommend this book enough. Venter's account is personal, detailed, and compelling. You can tell he is a guy who genuinely cares about the science, and cares about changing the world.

I think this youtube video does a pretty good job of capturing some of what you can expect to read.