Molecular and Cellular Biologists
In short: today's best AI models could do about 18% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 40% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 60% of the time, stays with people.
Research and study cellular molecules and organelles to understand cell function and organization.
$98,920 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on7 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet9 h
- Stays with people24 h
Molecular and Cellular Biologists, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 7 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 9 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 24 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Compile and analyze molecular or cellular experimental data and adjust experimental designs as necessary (about 2 h); Provide scientific direction for project teams regarding the evaluation or handling of devices, drugs, or cells for in vitro and in vivo disease models (about 1 h); Design molecular or cellular laboratory experiments, oversee their execution, and interpret results (about 1 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 40%
- 7%
- 53%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 3%. Today's estimate: 18%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, 0.13% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 140th largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 1 of its 22 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.032% to 0.058% (released February and March 2025); 0.075% to 0.12% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.14% to 0.13% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.032% | 350 of 708 | 7 of 22 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.058% | 244 of 703 | 7 of 22 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.075% | 182 of 655 | 7 of 22 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.12% | 132 of 672 | 7 of 22 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.12% | 142 of 677 | 8 of 22 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.14% | 137 of 434 | 1 of 22 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.13% | 140 of 447 | 1 of 22 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 37% of this job's working time as physical work. For 37% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 37% in a purpose-built cell. 0.37 of 3, the 357th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 63%
- In a purpose-built cell 37%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 22 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Design molecular or cellular laboratory experiments, oversee their execution, and interpret results.Done daily by most who do it. | 12% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 31%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Conduct research on cell organization and function, including mechanisms of gene expression, cellular bioinformatics, cell signaling, or cell differentiation.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, LabDroid Maholo robotic AI system (RIKEN/AIST/Robotic Biology Institute) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 12% | 1.7 work weeks2.1 work days to 3.5 work weeks | Stays with people | |
| Conduct applied research aimed at improvements in areas such as disease testing, crop quality, pharmaceuticals, and the harnessing of microbes to recycle waste.Done yearly or less by most who do it. AI observed on this task.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Maholo LabDroid + batch Bayesian optimization AI (Robotic Biology Institute / RIKEN / Institute of Science Tokyo) (Yachie/Natsume lab, RIKEN & Robotic Biology Institute) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 12% | 1.7 work weeks1.7 work days to 1.5 work months | Stays with people | |
| Participate in all levels of bioproduct development, including proposing new products, performing market analyses, designing and performing experiments, and collaborating with operations and quality control teams during product launches.Done more than yearly by most who do it. AI observed on this task.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Recursion automated wet lab (high-throughput phenomics platform) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 12% | 1.7 work weeks1.7 work days to 1.9 work months | Stays with people | |
| Develop assays that monitor cell characteristics.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, LabDroid Maholo robotic AI system (RIKEN/Robotic Biology Institute) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 3.3 work weeks | Stays with people | |
| Write grant applications to obtain funding.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 8% | 1.7 work weeks4.2 work days to 3.3 work weeks | 0%Half by Dec 2027 | |
| Perform laboratory procedures following protocols including deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequencing, cloning and extraction, ribonucleic acid (RNA) purification, or gel electrophoresis.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Thermo Scientific KingFisher Apex (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 3.3 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Compile and analyze molecular or cellular experimental data and adjust experimental designs as necessary.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 6.7 h2.5 h to 1.7 work days | 84%Half by now | |
| Provide scientific direction for project teams regarding the evaluation or handling of devices, drugs, or cells for in vitro and in vivo disease models.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 4% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 1 work day | 99%Half by now | |
| Prepare or review reports, manuscripts, or meeting presentations.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 4.2 work days | 40%Half by Jan 2027 | |
| Instruct undergraduate and graduate students within the areas of cellular or molecular biology.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.7 h50 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Develop guidelines for procedures such as the management of viruses.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 3% | 1 work day3.3 h to 3.1 work days | 61%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Molecular and Cellular Biologists is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 18% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 40% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (34% to 40% across the three paces the site shows). Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Molecular and Cellular Biologists come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Compile and analyze molecular or cellular experimental data and adjust experimental designs as necessary (84% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Provide scientific direction for project teams regarding the evaluation or handling of devices, drugs, or cells for in vitro and in vivo disease models (99% of the task's time now); and Design molecular or cellular laboratory experiments, oversee their execution, and interpret results (31% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Molecular and Cellular Biologists stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Conduct research on cell organization and function, including mechanisms of gene expression, cellular bioinformatics, cell signaling, or cell differentiation; Conduct applied research aimed at improvements in areas such as disease testing, crop quality, pharmaceuticals, and the harnessing of microbes to recycle waste; and Participate in all levels of bioproduct development, including proposing new products, performing market analyses, designing and performing experiments, and collaborating with operations and quality control teams during product launches. Together such tasks are about 60% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Molecular and Cellular Biologists?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.13% went to this job's tasks, the 140th largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 1 of its 22 tasks appeared. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 25%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Molecular and Cellular Biologists?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 37% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 37% of the working time. Its index is 0.37 of 3. One example: LabDroid Maholo robotic AI system (RIKEN/AIST/Robotic Biology Institute) for "conduct research on cell organization and function, including mechanisms of gene expression, cellular bioinformatics, cell signaling, or cell differentiation". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 22 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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