A casual conversational podcast about the non-scientific parts of life in the biotech industry, this show contains conversations about topics including career paths, side hustles, and whatever is going on in the field right now. Hosted by Maria Nattestad and Robert Aboukhalil, this show includes a mix of interviews with guests doing interesting things in this space, answering listener questions, and otherwise just talking about topics we think are interesting, all while avoiding the actual science as much as possible.
We're taking the conversations we might have at a conference cocktail hour and bringing them to you on your walk, drive, or while you do dishes.
We visit Plasmidsaurus and spoke with CEO Mark Budde about why they are offering sequencing for so cheap, what surprises came up when their customers first got whole plasmid sequencing, and how sequencers are like bread machines.
Join the discussion in the comments on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Ss8H6VUQBGo
Where to find us online:
https://omgenomics.com
13 Aug 2025
011: AI in biology: distinguishing hype from reality
We talk about the promise and the perils of AI and dive into a particular case where AI was used to predict enzyme function and gave results that looked really promising, but were not quite right.
Learn more about the online Master of Science program from the University of Florida Department of Microbiology and Cell Science: https://microbiologyonline.ifas.ufl.edu/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social-paid&utm_campaign=omgenomics&utm_term=ms&utm_content=
Join the discussion in the comments on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_mDC1r6tUb0
Where to find us online:
https://omgenomics.com
23 Jun 2025
010: Leaving academia is not a failure, it's a choice, with Ashley Moses
Ashley Moses discusses scientists' diverse career options beyond academia and shares insights from PhDPaths, a resource exploring PhD graduates' career paths, in an interview with the host.
16 Jul 2024
009: Rewriting software is bad... but it might work for us
We discuss our experiences with rewriting software, why it's nearly always a bad idea, and the ONE situation where it's justified anyway.
Join the discussion in the comments on YouTube: https://youtu.be/5JDhydALi8c
Where to find us online:
https://omgenomics.com
16 Apr 2024
008: Academic software
Academic software has a bad reputation for being poorly maintained. We discuss our experiences maintaining our own bioinformatics tools and the systemic issues that influence the quality of academic software.
Topics
* Lessons we've learned from maintaining our 8+ year old tools: Ginkgo, Assemblytics, SplitThreader, Ribbon.
* Discussing career implications and systemic incentives of maintaining academic software.
* How we build bioinformatics web apps today versus when we first started out.
* Supporting users when you're not even in that field anymore.
* Lots of embarrassing stories of bad software engineering in bioinformatics tools.
Join the discussion in the comments on YouTube: https://youtu.be/eyd7Cb7ueNg
* For academics, do any other metrics get considered for your tools other than citations?
* How do you cite tools you used that you didn't mention in the methods, e.g. samtools, parallel, IGV.
* Do any programs match up volunteer experienced software engineers with scientists writing software?
Where to find us online:
https://omgenomics.com
5 Sept 2023
007: So good they can't ignore you
In the last episode of the season, we discuss Cal Newport's book "So Good They Can't Ignore You" and our experience applying those ideas to bioinformatics.
Topics:
* Why "follow your passion" is bad advice, especially in science.
* Career capital: acquiring rare and valuable skills to craft a career you'll love.
* How your personality affects which skills you might pursue.
* Deliberate practice and deep work.
Where to find us online:
https://omgenomics.com
5 Aug 2023
006: Running biotech startups differently with Kaja Wasik
We interview Kaja Wasik, co-founder of Variant Bio, whose goal is to develop new therapies by studying the genetics of communities with exceptional health traits.
Topics:
* Kaja's circuitous journey in the biotech startup industry.
* How Variant Bio ethically collects genetic data from more than 20 populations worldwide.
* Their unique approach to benefit sharing with the communities they work with.
Show notes:
* Kaja's fundraiser for Life Science Cares: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/kaja-wasik1
* Twitter: Twitter: https://twitter.com/kajawasik
* LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kaja-wasik-8a8aa26b/
* Variant Bio's work in French Polynesia: https://vimeo.com/683490754
* Variant Bio's work in the Faroe Islands: https://vimeo.com/705567729
Where to find us online:
https://omgenomics.com
5 Jun 2023
005: Consulting with Nils Homer
We interview Nils Homer, the co-founder of Fulcrum Genomics, a thriving bioinformatics consulting business.
Topics:
* Why Nils decided to start a consulting business in the bioinformatics space.
* Embracing open-source.
* Finding customers is the easy part.
* Scoping and pricing in science when figuring out what work is possible or necessary is a huge part of the work itself.
* Why Nils believes "working hard" and "lifestyle business" are not conflicting concepts.
* Exploring the possibilities of productizing services in the custom-driven world of bioinformatics.
* Nils' thoughts on selling software to scientists.
Show notes:
* Nils' Twitter: https://twitter.com/nilshomer
* Fulcrum Genomics is hiring! https://fulcrumgenomics.com/careers/
Where to find us online:
https://omgenomics.com
5 May 2023
004: The PhD question with Steve Osazuwa
Our guest Steve Osazuwa helps us answer the PhD question (namely, should you do one?). Since we both have PhDs, we are bringing on our friend Steve who has been successful in bioinformatics without a PhD to add his perspectives.
Topics:
* How Steve ended up in bioinformatics.
* Starting a PhD after working in industry.
* What Steve's barber thinks about his colleagues' advice.
* Would we do a PhD again?
* The opportunity cost of doing a PhD instead of going directly to industry.
Where to find us online:
https://omgenomics.com
5 Apr 2023
003: Job hopping
Inspired by opinions seen on Twitter, we discuss whether people should stay much more than 1 year per company to avoid being judged by future employers as a job-hopper, and whether companies should be discriminating this way.
Topics:
* Benefits of job hopping, early versus late in your career.
* A debatable statement by chatGPT.
* Is it ethically okay? disloyal? greedy?
* Being loyal to a corporate entity that may have no feelings for you.
* How can employers/teams deal with the reality of short stints.
* The bus/lottery factor.
* But isn't this different for biotech than tech?
Where to find us online:
https://omgenomics.com
5 Mar 2023
002: You Might be an Imposter
Accepting that we're all imposters in bioinformatics, we tell stories from our own careers.
Topics:
* Robert's grad school experience in a biology program coming from a computer engineering background.
* Maria's experience interviewing at grad schools.
* "You can't just go around being like, I'm an idiot. Even if you feel like an idiot, that's just not helpful."
Where to find us online:
https://omgenomics.com
5 Feb 2023
001: Sabbaticals
We discuss our experiences with unofficial industry sabbaticals, aka taking time between jobs for our own projects.
Topics:
* Funemployment versus sabbatical
* Robert's 2021 sabbatical building sandbox.bio learning platform and 42basepairs genomics cloud platform
* Maria's 2017 OMGenomics entrepreneurship experience, building Circa visualization software and a YouTube channel
* Sabbatical projects helping you get the next job
* Satisfaction and meaning from personal projects
Links:
* Ask us a question!: omgenomics.com/podcast
* 42basepairs.com (Robert's genomics cloud platform)
* sandbox.bio (Robert's bioinformatics learning platform)
* omgenomics.com/circa (Maria's visualization tool)
* youtube.com/omgenomics (Maria's YouTube channel)
* OMGenomics Q&A episode featuring Robert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SfDHheyKBU&ab_channel=OMGenomics
Where to find us online:
https://omgenomics.com
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
9 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
10 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 26 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
32
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
51
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