Bioinformatics/Systems Biology Firms

Of Late I’ve been hearing gripes that there are no bioinformatics/systems biology companies and that within industry the only jobs you can hope for are within a progressive big pharma company or get back to academic research in one of the DBT, CSIR, DRDO Labs. There is also word going around about the level of frustration amongst the growing number of people who in pursuit of better opportunities and acceptance have undertook “specialized training/certification/degree” at substantial costs/expense. Recently some one appraised me of an interview with the CEO of GeneStruct, Keith Ellison who talked about tools, strategies and companies driving systems biology. He mentioned that this new paradigm of drug discovery follows any natural order, with early adopters, conservatives and laggards in the mix. He mentioned that lot of systems and pathway companies are often overlooked when thinking about bioinformatics industry.

Well, one of the causes of this frustration could be due to the fact that there exists a gap between what is taught in these courses and what the industry expects. The blame may lie on both the parties, one for not tailoring the programs with the industry view-point in mind and the other for not talking a realistic approach towards the NDDR/Bio-X processes, whilst expecting results in the short term.