A laboratory geneticist must have the educational background to understand the equipment, technology and process of conducting research. By studying math, chemistry and physics in high school and college, in addition to biology, a student will acquire the educational background to pursue a career in the sciences. In college, students would normally major in biology or genetics to become more specialized in their field.
Some researchers do their experiments on laboratory animals.
Each of these researchers have at least a four year undergraduate Bachelor of Science degree, most often in biology or another science. With this degree, one is able to perform laboratory experiments and do research as a technologist. However, technologists are usually not in charge of deciding what experiments to perform, or what direction the research should pursue. These decisions are left to the research scientists, who have completed a Ph.D. program. After undergraduate college, students can enter a Ph.D. program in genetics which usually lasts an additional 4 - 6 years.