🧬 Careers if you like: biology

48 careers for people interested in biology: prospects, pay, AI risk and where to study.

• 🧊 Transplant SurgeonTransplants organs: kidneys, liver, heart, lungs. Urgent call-outs when a donor organ appears, highly complex operations and years of follow-up. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🎗️ OncologistDiagnoses and treats cancer: chooses chemotherapy, targeted drugs and immunotherapy and stays with patients for years. Difficult conversations are part of the job. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• ⚗️ Drug discovery scientist (pharmacologist)Finds and designs new molecules, tests them on cells and animals and takes them to clinical trials. Years of work for a single medicine. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🧬 GeneticistStudies heredity in people, plants and animals: hunts for genes behind diseases and useful traits, and analyses genomes, family trees and populations. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• ✂️ Genome Editing ScientistEdits DNA with CRISPR: creates resilient crop varieties, cell models of disease, bacteria that make medicines, and approaches to gene therapy. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🧠 NeuroscientistStudies how the brain works: records neuron activity, runs experiments with animals and people, and explores memory, sleep, addiction and brain-computer interfaces. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🌱 Plant BreederDevelops new varieties of wheat, potatoes and vegetables: crosses, selects and tests for drought tolerance and yield, using genetic markers. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🧫 Biotechnologist / Bioprocess ScientistPuts microbes and cells to work: grows enzymes, feed protein, medicines and bioplastics in bioreactors, and scales processes from flask to factory. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🦋 EndocrinologistTreats diabetes, thyroid and adrenal disorders, hormone imbalances and obesity. Follows patients for years, fine-tuning insulin and therapy. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🧫 Synthetic BiologistPrograms cells like computers: assembles genetic circuits and gets bacteria and yeast to make drugs, fuels, dyes and materials. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🖥️ BioinformaticianWrites code to analyse genomes, proteins and cells: builds pipelines, trains models and searches billions of DNA letters for causes of disease and drug targets. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🧬 Clinical geneticistLooks for inherited diseases: interprets DNA tests, works out risks for future children and explains to families what a mutation really means. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🧠 NeurosurgeonOperates on the brain and spinal cord: tumours, aneurysms, spinal injuries. Microscopes, navigation systems and hours-long operations accurate to the millimetre. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🩸 HaematologistTreats blood disorders: anaemia, clotting problems, leukaemia and lymphoma. Examines blood and bone marrow, gives chemotherapy, prepares for bone marrow transplants. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• ⚡ NeurologistTreats the nervous system: strokes, migraines, epilepsy, back pain, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. A reflex hammer, MRI scans and a lot of logic. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🧪 BiochemistWorks out how proteins, enzymes and metabolism work inside cells: purifies molecules, runs experiments and helps develop drugs and diagnostic tests. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🧬 Molecular BiologistWorks with DNA, RNA and proteins: clones genes, runs PCR and sequencing, and finds out how molecules control the cell and what breaks in disease. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🦠 Microbiologist / VirologistStudies viruses and bacteria: grows cultures, searches for new antibiotics and phages, tracks dangerous strains and helps develop vaccines and tests. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🌾 AgronomistDecides what, when and how to sow: analyses soil and weather, picks varieties, fertilisers and crop protection, monitors fields by satellite and drone and owns the harvest. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🤧 Allergist / Clinical ImmunologistFinds out what people are allergic to, treats asthma, hives and food reactions, runs immunotherapy and manages inborn immune deficiencies. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🥣 GastroenterologistTreats the stomach, bowel, liver and pancreas: gastritis, ulcers, colitis, hepatitis. Orders tests, performs endoscopy, plans diet and treatment. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🌬️ Respiratory Physician (Pulmonologist)Treats lung diseases: asthma, COPD, pneumonia, fibrosis, damage from smoking and viruses. Reads lung function tests and CT, manages severe cases. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 💧 Nephrologist (Renal Physician)Treats failing kidneys: chronic kidney disease and kidney-related high blood pressure. Cares for patients on dialysis and after kidney transplants. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🦴 RheumatologistTreats joint and immune diseases: arthritis, lupus, gout, vasculitis. Untangles confusing symptoms and prescribes modern biologic drugs. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🦠 Infectious Diseases PhysicianTreats infections from flu and gut bugs to HIV, hepatitis, tick-borne and tropical diseases. Works in isolation wards and on the front line in epidemics. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🧫 Cell Biologist (Stem Cells)Grows cells and organoids in the lab, turns stem cells into neurons and heart cells, looks for ways to repair tissue and grow organs. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🐟 Fish Health VeterinarianKeeps farmed fish healthy: diagnoses infections and parasites in salmon and sturgeon, chooses treatments and vaccines, monitors water quality in sea pens. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🥀 Plant Pathologist (Crop Protection Specialist)Saves harvests from disease and pests: recognises rot and rust from leaf spots, plans protection with minimal chemicals and watches for quarantine weeds. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🥬 Vertical Farming SpecialistGrows greens, berries and vegetables on soil-free racks under LED light: tunes nutrient solutions, climate and lighting, watches sensors and fights plant disease. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🧲 BiophysicistApplies physics to living things: how proteins fold, how nerves fire, how cells sense light. Works with lasers, microscopes and computer models. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🦋 Ecological Consultant (Biodiversity)Surveys which animals and plants live on the site of a future building or mine and plans how to protect rare species: relocation, wildlife corridors, offsets. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🐋 Marine BiologistStudies whales, corals, plankton and fish: dives, sets traps and cameras, counts populations and works out how warming and people are changing life in the sea. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🦊 ZoologistStudies wild animals in nature and in collections: observes behaviour, tags and counts populations, describes new species and helps save rare ones. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🐟 Fisheries ScientistStudies fish in rivers and seas: assesses salmon and cod stocks, sets catch quotas and works out how dams and fishing change populations. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🐞 EntomologistStudies insects: builds collections, fights crop and forest pests, breeds useful predatory beetles and researches bees and disease vectors. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🌺 BotanistStudies plants: collects herbarium specimens on expeditions, describes floras, curates collections in botanic gardens and explores how plants survive heat and drought. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🍄 MycologistStudies fungi, from forest mushrooms to moulds and yeasts: describes new species, looks for plastic-eating fungi and drug producers, fights fungal crop diseases. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🦴 Palaeogeneticist (Ancient DNA)Extracts DNA from the bones of mammoths, Neanderthals and ancient humans, reads their genomes and works out who moved where and when across the planet. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🥩 Meat Hygiene Inspector / Official VeterinarianChecks meat, milk, fish and honey at abattoirs, markets and plants: looks for disease and parasites and decides whether a product may be sold. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🌲 Forest Pathologist (Tree Health Specialist)Surveys forests and parks for pests and diseases such as bark beetles, moths and rot. Decides which trees to save and which to fell so the whole stand survives. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🦠 Freshwater Biologist (Limnologist)Studies life in rivers, lakes and reservoirs: plankton, algae, molluscs. Uses them to judge water quality and predict algal blooms. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🔬 PathologistMakes the final diagnosis by looking at tissue under a microscope: cancer or not, and exactly what kind. Performs post-mortems to find out why someone died. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🐍 HerpetologistStudies snakes, lizards, turtles and frogs: catches them on expeditions, describes new species, breeds rare amphibians in zoos, works with venom. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🦖 PalaeontologistFinds and excavates the bones of dinosaurs, ancient fish and mammoths, and uses fossils to reconstruct how creatures lived and died out millions of years ago. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🦅 OrnithologistStudies birds: rings them, tracks migrations with GPS tags, counts nests, protects rare birds of prey and deals with birds near airports and power lines. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 👽 AstrobiologistSearches for signs of life beyond Earth: grows microbes in Mars-like conditions, studies extremophiles in volcanoes and ice, designs experiments for space probes. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🦎 Evolutionary BiologistWorks out how and why species change: compares genomes, runs experiments on fruit flies and bacteria, reconstructs the tree of life. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🐺 Animal Behaviour Researcher (Ethologist)Watches how animals hunt, communicate, learn and choose mates in the wild, in zoos and in the lab. Decodes the 'languages' of wolves, birds and dolphins. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance

Scales are expert estimates; tuition and admission rules are for 2026/27 from official sources — always check the university website.