Jobs / Healthcare / 29-2011.01
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.
- US jobs
- Not reported by BLS
- Job family
- Healthcare
Can agents do the work of cytogenetic technologists?
We read the evidence at the level of the job family, Healthcare:
- Task levelPartialOne benchmark, from early 2025. On Stanford's MedAgentBench, where agents do clinical tasks in a simulated electronic health record, the best recorded model completes 69.7% of tasks (Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2). It has no maintained leaderboard, so newer models are not measured. No benchmark in our collection tests work with patients.
- Project levelPartialOnly adjacent evidence. GDPval includes nurses among its 44 occupations. OpenAI reports that GPT-5.5's deliverables won or tied against professionals' work in 84.9% of comparisons across all occupations. No benchmark in our collection tests clinical work over days, such as managing a patient's care.
Benchmarks for the job family
These cover work in healthcare, not always this occupation's tasks.
- 1846 EloClaude Opus 5.5 (Adaptive Reasoning, Max Effort, Default Fallback) · 23 Sep 2026Unrated
Typical tasks
From O*NET 31.0. Core tasks first. Few of these tasks have a benchmark today.
- Arrange and attach chromosomes in numbered pairs on karyotype charts, using standard genetics laboratory practices and nomenclature, to identify normal or abnormal chromosomes.
- Analyze chromosomes found in biological specimens to aid diagnoses and treatments for genetic diseases such as congenital disabilities, fertility problems, and hematological disorders.
- Prepare biological specimens such as amniotic fluids, bone marrow, tumors, chorionic villi, and blood, for chromosome examinations.
- Harvest cell cultures using substances such as mitotic arrestants, cell releasing agents, and cell fixatives.
- Examine chromosomes found in biological specimens to detect abnormalities.
- Prepare slides of cell cultures following standard procedures.
- Input details of specimen processing, analysis, and technical issues into logs or laboratory information systems (LIS).
- Apply prepared specimen and control to appropriate grid, run instrumentation, and produce analyzable results.
- Evaluate appropriateness of received specimens for requested tests.
- Summarize test results and report to appropriate authorities.
- Count numbers of chromosomes and identify the structural abnormalities by viewing culture slides through microscopes, light microscopes, or photomicroscopes.
- Describe chromosome, FISH and aCGH analysis results in International System of Cytogenetic Nomenclature (ISCN) language.
Other job titles for this occupation (14)
Certified Cytogenetic Technologist · Clinical Cytogeneticist Scientist (CCS) · Cytogenetics Clinical Laboratory Specialist (CG CLSp) · Cytogenetics Specialist · Cytogenetics Technical Specialist · Lab Technologist (Laboratory Technologist) · Microarray Laboratory Technologist (Microarray Lab Technologist) · Molecular Genetics Technologist · Cytogenetic Technician · Cytologist · Cytotechnician · Flow Cytometry Specialist · Flow Cytometry Technologist · Genetic Technologist