Biochemistry and Programming: Similar practices
As you’ve probably already surmised from my previous blogs, I am a Software engineer. I also have a bachelor’s degree in chemistry with a concentration in biochemistry. Making the transition from biochemistry to software engineering was an amazing change for me and opened so many new opportunities. As I made my way through the journey of transitioning from chemistry to programming, I noticed that they are incredibly similar in many ways.
Biochemists break down complex systems into their most basic parts: atoms and molecules. They seek to understand how the interactions of those building blocks allow biological systems to function. Similarly, in programming we break down large, complex programs into letters and words typed in code and must understand how all that code works together to create a webpage or application.
The way Biochemists approach problems is also quite similar ways to programmers do. For example, when researching a cure for a disease, a biochemist would first look for the cause of the problem, just like a programmer would search for the source of a bug in their code. Sometimes this means poring over genetic data to find a mismatched base pair or running myriad tests in the lab until you get a positive result. Similarly, a developer might check for typos or syntax errors in their code and run through their tests to see which if any were failing.
Then, to solve the problem, a programmer would implement a patch or fix to repair their code. A biochemist might find a way to synthesize a missing compound to treat a disease, for example engineering bacteria to make insulin to treat diabetes. Once a solution is available, just like a developer must check that their code will work with all of the existing program, a biochemist must make sure their solution with work with the whole of the human body, one of the most complex systems on earth. This is most often done by building up in steps, from petri-dishes of bacteria to flies, to mice, and so until clinical trials are run on people. This is similar to the way a programmer might check the effectiveness of their patch or fix at several different areas throughout their program to ensure it is effective. Sometimes, it might take several attempts to find the right treatment that is safe and effective. Just like how sometimes it can take several tries to find a solution for a bug that doesn’t cause an avalanche of other errors and gives the user the experience they want.
In conclusion, biochemistry and software engineering share many of the same processes. In biochemistry we are often faced with problems that require creative and complex solutions. In programming we use many of the same skills to solve tricky or difficult problems in code.
