Biology
Knowledge · O*NET work requirement
Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
In the O*NET occupational database, Biology is an area of knowledge that work requires. O*NET rates how important it is (1–5) and what level of it a job needs (0–7) for every U.S. occupation. It is rated as important (3 or higher) in 134 of 894 occupations.
Breadth here means how widely O*NET rates this area of knowledge as important across occupations — not that it is rare, high-paying, or currently in employer demand.
Occupations that rely most on Biology
Ranked by O*NET importance to the occupation (1–5). Bars are sized against the 1–5 scale; the level column is what depth of the area of knowledge the job needs (0–7).
Showing the top 40 of 134 occupations where this is important.
How AI is used by roles that need Biology
This area of knowledge is not itself "being automated" — but we can look at the roles for which O*NET rates it important and ask how those people actually use AI. This rolls the Anthropic Economic Index per-role signal up across those roles (importance-weighted). 58.2% of the 134 roles where this is important carry observed AI-usage data (78 roles).
Across those roles, 57.1% of AI conversations are people working with AI and 25.3% hand a task to AI , with an average autonomy of 3.76 / 5.
| Collaboration pattern | Share | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| learning | 34.7% | you ask AI to explain or teach |
| directive | 23.0% | AI does it; you give the instruction |
| task iteration | 18.9% | you and AI go back and forth |
| validation | 3.5% | you do it; AI checks your work |
| feedback loop | 2.3% | AI does it, then adjusts from your feedback |
Roles behind this signal
The roles where this area of knowledge is most important and that also have the most AEI data. "Works with AI" is the role's share of conversations that augment rather than automate.
| Occupation | Importance | Works with AI | Autonomy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary | 5.0 | 63.2% | 4.0/5 |
| Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary | 4.3 | 66.2% | 3.5/5 |
| Recreation and Fitness Studies Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.5 | 66.2% | 3.3/5 |
| Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.5 | 66.3% | 4.0/5 |
| Forestry and Conservation Science Teachers, Postsecondary | 4.0 | 65.3% | 4.0/5 |
| Environmental Science Teachers, Postsecondary | 4.3 | 66.3% | 4.0/5 |
| Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary | 4.3 | 65.5% | 4.0/5 |
| Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary | 4.1 | 65.8% | 3.8/5 |
| Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.0 | 66.2% | 4.0/5 |
| Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.6 | 66.0% | 4.0/5 |
| Bioinformatics Scientists | 4.8 | 44.5% | 4.0/5 |
| Dietitians and Nutritionists | 4.4 | 70.2% | 4.0/5 |
Source: Anthropic Economic Index (2026-01-15-v4-plus-2025-03-27-v2) over a sample of Claude.ai Free and Pro conversations — not all AI tools and not the whole workforce. Shares are of observed conversations, weighted by how important this area of knowledge is to each role; some conversations are left unclassified by Anthropic's taxonomy, so shares need not sum to 100.
Industries that concentrate this
Where Biology matters most across the economy. Employment reach is the share of an industry's workers in occupations that significantly rely on Biology (O*NET importance ≥ 3 of 5). Concentration compares that reach to the national average industry, so a value above 1× means the requirement is more pervasive here than across the economy as a whole.
Nationally, about 5.3% of workers are in occupations that significantly rely on Biology (measured across 58 industries).
Sectors with the most such workers
| Sector | Workers | Employment reach |
|---|---|---|
| Health Care and Social Assistance | 5,331,230 | 23.1% |
| Educational Services | 697,900 | 5.1% |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 655,440 | 6.1% |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services | 213,440 | 2.4% |
| Retail Trade | 195,030 | 1.3% |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) | 131,040 | 3.0% |
| Manufacturing | 111,190 | 0.9% |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | 62,070 | 2.2% |
| Finance and Insurance | 61,240 | 1.0% |
| Wholesale Trade | 51,260 | 0.8% |
| Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting | 36,710 | 8.7% |
| Construction | 23,410 | 0.3% |
Industries where it is most concentrated
| Industry | Level | Concentration | Employment reach |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veterinary Services | National industry | 11.98× | 63.5% |
| Offices of Chiropractors | National industry | 6.51× | 34.5% |
| Offices of Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapists, and Audiologists | National industry | 6.23× | 33.0% |
| Health Care and Social Assistance | Sector | 4.36× | 23.1% |
| Pharmacies and Drug Retailers | National industry | 3.47× | 18.4% |
| Offices of Optometrists | National industry | 3.36× | 17.8% |
| Testing Laboratories and Services | National industry | 2.43× | 12.9% |
| Direct Health and Medical Insurance Carriers | National industry | 1.75× | 9.3% |
| Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting | Sector | 1.64× | 8.7% |
| Outpatient Mental Health and Substance Abuse Centers | National industry | 1.51× | 8.0% |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | Sector | 1.15× | 6.1% |
| Residential Mental Health and Substance Abuse Facilities | National industry | 1.09× | 5.8% |
Reach is a measure of how widespread a requirement is across an industry's workforce, not how intensively any individual uses it. Sector worker counts come from BLS OEWS employment; the significance threshold and tool use come from O*NET. Industries shown by concentration are filtered to a real worker base so a tiny specialty cannot top the list on rounding.
Related knowledge, skills & abilities
Capabilities required by many of the same occupations — a measure of which skills, knowledge and abilities tend to travel together, not a judgment of similarity.
| Capability | Type | Shared occupations |
|---|---|---|
| Science | Basic skill | 87 |
| Medicine and Dentistry | Knowledge | 75 |
| Chemistry | Knowledge | 67 |
| Therapy and Counseling | Knowledge | 44 |
| Psychology | Knowledge | 63 |
| Instructing | Cross-functional skill | 103 |
| Learning Strategies | Basic skill | 94 |
| Systems Evaluation | Cross-functional skill | 86 |
| Education and Training | Knowledge | 105 |
| Systems Analysis | Cross-functional skill | 93 |
| Fluency of Ideas | Ability | 106 |
| Writing | Basic skill | 127 |
Sources for this page
Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Census NAICS 2022 U.S. Census Bureau
- Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Singulariki. "Biology." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; Census NAICS 2022; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27). Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/knowledge/biology
Singulariki. (2026). Biology. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/knowledge/biology
@misc{singulariki-biology,
title = {Biology},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; Census NAICS 2022; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27). Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/knowledge/biology}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.