Hi Aamir. Nice question! To be a good geneticist you need to know a lot, but a lot of genetics. No matters your specialty area, you have to know genetics from mendelian to molecular, and at one point, you have to look genetics through the prism of evolution (Theodore Dobzhansky dixit). Otherwise you will be a good molecular geneticist, a good clinical geneticist, a good plant geneticist, but not a good Geneticist. Having said that, I think that to learn proper genetics you will need a bunch of maths, statistical, biophysics, biochemistry. I discourage students coming to the genetics field because they "do not like maths". You cannot go from the mendelian vision to the population and quantitative vision of genetics without maths and stats. You cannot go further a superficial vision of DNA without good biophysics and biochemistry. Today, you cannot undestand how genetics work in a system without system biology. Of course, once you decide your special field, your special passion, you will have to go deeper and deeper, sustained by the good foundations you got during your basic training. Good luck!

To be a good scientist, you are encouraged to be familiar with topics and subjects other than your specialty. The truth is that the more you know about other area of science you can use your knowledge in a more productive way. It may sound cliche but it's also true that all area of science are connected to each other and although you can not master all the areas of science, the more you know, the better scientist you will be in you special field!

Hi Aamir. Nice question! To be a good geneticist you need to know a lot, but a lot of genetics. No matters your specialty area, you have to know genetics from mendelian to molecular, and at one point, you have to look genetics through the prism of evolution (Theodore Dobzhansky dixit). Otherwise you will be a good molecular geneticist, a good clinical geneticist, a good plant geneticist, but not a good Geneticist. Having said that, I think that to learn proper genetics you will need a bunch of maths, statistical, biophysics, biochemistry. I discourage students coming to the genetics field because they "do not like maths". You cannot go from the mendelian vision to the population and quantitative vision of genetics without maths and stats. You cannot go further a superficial vision of DNA without good biophysics and biochemistry. Today, you cannot undestand how genetics work in a system without system biology. Of course, once you decide your special field, your special passion, you will have to go deeper and deeper, sustained by the good foundations you got during your basic training. Good luck!