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Date: 09/09/2026

Cytogenetic Technologists

Analyze chromosomes or chromosome segments found in biological specimens, such as amniotic fluids, bone marrow, solid tumors, and blood to aid in the study, diagnosis, classification, or treatment of inherited or acquired genetic diseases. Conduct analyses through classical cytogenetic, fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) or array comparative genome hybridization (aCGH) techniques.

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    Work Activities

    Work Activities

    • Identify appropriate methods of specimen collection, preservation, or transport.
    • Extract, measure, dilute as appropriate, label, and prepare DNA for array analysis.
    • Harvest cell cultures using substances such as mitotic arrestants, cell releasing agents, and cell fixatives.
    • Input details of specimens into logs or computer systems.
    • Prepare slides of cell cultures following standard procedures.
    • Apply prepared specimen and control to appropriate grid, run instrumentation, and produce analyzable results.
    • Stain slides to make chromosomes visible for microscopy.
    • Communicate to responsible parties unacceptable specimens and suggest remediation for future submissions.
    • Recognize and report abnormalities in the color, size, shape, composition, or pattern of cells.
    • Arrange and attach chromosomes in numbered pairs on karyotype charts, using standard genetics laboratory practices and nomenclature, to identify normal or abnormal chromosomes.
    • Count numbers of chromosomes and identify the structural abnormalities by viewing culture slides through microscopes, light microscopes, or photomicroscopes.
    • Examine chromosomes found in biological specimens to detect abnormalities.
    • Select banding methods to permit identification of chromosome pairs.
    • Develop, implement, and monitor quality control and quality assurance programs to ensure accurate and precise test performance and reports.
    • Supervise subordinate laboratory staff.
    • Describe chromosome, FISH and aCGH analysis results in International System of Cytogenetic Nomenclature (ISCN) language.
    • Select appropriate methods of preparation and storage of media to maintain potential of hydrogen (pH), sterility, or ability to support growth.
    • Prepare biological specimens such as amniotic fluids, bone marrow, tumors, chorionic villi, and blood, for chromosome examinations.
    • Archive case documentation and study materials as required by regulations and laws.
    • Develop and implement training programs for trainees, medical students, resident physicians or post-doctoral fellows.
    • Communicate test results or technical information to patients, physicians, family members, or researchers.
    • Summarize test results and report to appropriate authorities.
    • Develop, implement, and monitor quality control and quality assurance programs to ensure accurate and precise test performance and reports.
    • Develop and implement training programs for trainees, medical students, resident physicians or post-doctoral fellows.
    • Create chromosome images using computer imaging systems.
    • Select appropriate culturing system or procedure based on specimen type and reason for referral.
    • Input details of specimen processing, analysis, and technical issues into logs or laboratory information systems (LIS).
    • Analyze chromosomes found in biological specimens to aid diagnoses and treatments for genetic diseases such as congenital disabilities, fertility problems, and hematological disorders.
    • Evaluate appropriateness of received specimens for requested tests.
    • Maintain laboratory equipment such as photomicroscopes, inverted microscopes, and standard darkroom equipment.
    • Determine optimal time sequences and methods for manual or robotic cell harvests.
    • Select or prepare specimens and media for cell cultures using aseptic techniques, knowledge of medium components, or cell nutritional requirements.
    • Communicate test results or technical information to patients, physicians, family members, or researchers.
    • Summarize test results and report to appropriate authorities.
    • Recognize and report abnormalities in the color, size, shape, composition, or pattern of cells.

    Skills

    • Negotiation

      Bringing people together to solve differences.

    • Complex Problem Solving

      Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

    • Social Perceptiveness

      Understanding people's reactions.

    • Installation

      Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.

    • Troubleshooting

      Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.

    • Management of Material Resources

      Managing equipment and materials.

    • Writing

      Writing things for co-workers or customers.

    • Active Learning

      Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.

    • Equipment Selection

      Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.

    • Operations Monitoring

      Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.

    • Quality Control Analysis

      Testing how well a product or service works.

    • Equipment Maintenance

      Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.

    • Active Listening

      Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

    • Programming

      Writing computer programs.

    • Repairing

      Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.

    • Time Management

      Managing your time and the time of other people.

    • Systems Evaluation

      Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

    • Monitoring

      Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.

    • Operation and Control

      Using equipment or systems.

    • Judgment and Decision Making

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.

    • Management of Financial Resources

      Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.

    • Systems Analysis

      Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.

    • Management of Personnel Resources

      Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.

    • Instructing

      Teaching people how to do something.

    • Coordination

      Changing what is done based on other people's actions.

    • Reading Comprehension

      Reading work-related information.

    • Learning Strategies

      Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.

    • Speaking

      Talking to others.

    • Mathematics

      Using math to solve problems.

    • Science

      Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.

    • Critical Thinking

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

    • Service Orientation

      Looking for ways to help people.

    • Operations Analysis

      Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.

    • Technology Design

      Making equipment and technology useful for customers.

    • Persuasion

      Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.

    WorkKeys®

    Applied Math
    5
    Workplace Documents
    5
    Graphic Literacy
    5

    Abilities

    • Selective Attention

      Paying attention to something without being distracted.

    • Category Flexibility

      Grouping things in different ways.

    • Spatial Orientation

      Knowing where things are around you.

    • Rate Control

      Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.

    • Trunk Strength

      Using your lower back and stomach.

    • Auditory Attention

      Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.

    • Manual Dexterity

      Holding or moving items with your hands.

    • Speed of Closure

      Quickly knowing what you are looking at.

    • Oral Comprehension

      Listening and understanding what people say.

    • Fluency of Ideas

      Coming up with lots of ideas.

    • Mathematical Reasoning

      Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.

    • Visualization

      Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

    • Time Sharing

      Doing two or more things at the same time.

    • Information Ordering

      Ordering or arranging things.

    • Night Vision

      Seeing at night or under low light.

    • Speech Recognition

      Recognizing spoken words.

    • Multilimb Coordination

      Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.

    • Gross Body Equilibrium

      Keeping your balance or staying upright.

    • Glare Sensitivity

      Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.

    • Arm-Hand Steadiness

      Keeping your arm or hand steady.

    • Gross Body Coordination

      Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.

    • Depth Perception

      Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.

    • Reaction Time

      Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.

    • Stamina

      Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.

    • Sound Localization

      Noticing the direction that a sound came from.

    • Originality

      Creating new and original ideas.

    • Memorization

      Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.

    • Far Vision

      Seeing details that are far away.

    • Perceptual Speed

      Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

    • Response Orientation

      Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.

    • Near Vision

      Seeing details up close.

    • Hearing Sensitivity

      Telling the difference between sounds.

    • Visual Color Discrimination

      Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.

    • Peripheral Vision

      Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.

    • Control Precision

      Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.

    • Oral Expression

      Communicating by speaking.

    • Wrist-Finger Speed

      Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.

    • Extent Flexibility

      Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Written Comprehension

      Reading and understanding what is written.

    • Flexibility of Closure

      Seeing hidden patterns.

    • Problem Sensitivity

      Noticing when problems happen.

    • Dynamic Strength

      Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.

    • Speed of Limb Movement

      Quickly moving your arms and legs.

    • Dynamic Flexibility

      Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Speech Clarity

      Speaking clearly.

    • Deductive Reasoning

      Using rules to solve problems.

    • Inductive Reasoning

      Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.

    • Number Facility

      Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.

    • Written Expression

      Communicating by writing.

    • Explosive Strength

      Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.

    • Static Strength

      Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.

    • Finger Dexterity

      Putting together small parts with your fingers.

    Knowledge

    • Physics

      Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.

    • Foreign Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

    • Administration and Management

      Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

    • Customer and Personal Service

      Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

    • Personnel and Human Resources

      Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

    • Computers and Electronics

      Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

    • Medicine and Dentistry

      Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

    • Mechanical

      Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

    • Design

      Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

    • Chemistry

      Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

    • Telecommunications

      Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

    • Transportation

      Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

    • Biology

      Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

    • Sociology and Anthropology

      Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

    • Therapy and Counseling

      Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

    • Fine Arts

      Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

    • Public Safety and Security

      Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

    • Communications and Media

      Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

    • Administrative

      Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

    • Economics and Accounting

      Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.

    • Production and Processing

      Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

    • Building and Construction

      Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.

    • Mathematics

      Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

    • Psychology

      Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

    • English Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.

    • Philosophy and Theology

      Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.

    • Sales and Marketing

      Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

    • Food Production

      Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

    • Engineering and Technology

      Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.

    • History and Archeology

      Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

    • Geography

      Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.

    • Education and Training

      Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

    • Law and Government

      Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

    Career Video

    Additional videos and more information available on CareerOneStop

    Pay

    • Ohio Annual Salary 63800/yr
    • Typical Salary
    • Ohio Hourly Wage 30.67/hr
    • Typical Hourly Wage

    Ohio Employment Trends

    • Currently Employed 13,090
    • Yearly Projected Openings 850

    Typical Education

    Personality

    Investigative: People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.They do well at jobs that need:
    • Achievement Orientation
    • Intellectual Curiosity
    • Cautiousness
    • Integrity
    • Attention to Detail
    • Dependability

    Tools

    • Binocular light compound microscopes
    • Counters
    • Cryogenic or liquid nitrogen freezers
    • Culture tubes
    • Darkfield microscopes
    • Deoxyribonucleic sequence analyzers
    • Desktop computers
    • Digital cameras
    • Digital image printers
    • Distillation pipings or columns or fittings
    • Dropping pipettes
    • Dry heat or hot air sterilizers
    • Dry wall single chamber carbon dioxide incubators
    • Fluorescent microscopes
    • Fume hoods or cupboards
    • General purpose refrigerators or refrigerator freezers
    • Histological staining apparatus
    • Hybridization ovens or incubators
    • Interferometers
    • Inverted microscopes
    • Ion exchange apparatus
    • Laboratory filtration hardware or accessories
    • Laboratory flasks
    • Laboratory incubator thermometers
    • Laboratory microwave ovens
    • Laboratory vials
    • Magnetic stirrers
    • Mercury vapor lamp HID
    • Microscope condensers
    • Microscope slide racks
    • Microscope slides
    • Multiwell plates
    • Petri plates or dishes
    • Photo attachments for microscopes
    • Pipette bulbs
    • Protective gloves
    • Refrigerated benchtop centrifuges
    • Scanners
    • Slide dryers
    • Steam autoclaves or sterilizers
    • Stereo or dissecting light microscopes
    • Sterilization cabinets
    • Surgical isolation or surgical masks
    • Tachometers
    • Test tube racks
    • Ultra cold or ultralow upright cabinets or freezers
    • Ultrasonic cleaning equipment
    • Ultrasonic disintegrators
    • Vortex mixers
    • Water baths
    • pH meters

    Technology

    • Analytical or scientific software
    • Customer relationship management CRM software
    • Data base user interface and query software
    • Electronic mail software
    • Graphics or photo imaging software
    • Object or component oriented development software
    • Office suite software
    • Presentation software
    • Spreadsheet software
    • Word processing software
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