[Balgair]

Having done the physics -> neuro leap, it's pretty tough.

You have to learn a whole new set of fields and new ways of thinking. That takes time. To be 'good' at genomics, you kinda need to know how the genes are implemented in the various model organisms. Which means you need to know the relevant biology, biochemistry, chemistry, and physics of the situations. That's, essentially, an entire undergrad education. Then, you get to do the actual work, which takes about 1.5 years of study, so most of a masters degree. Then you can start really doing the work.

For me, the first big realization coming from physics was that these little yeast cells and zebrafish aren't just little machines of quantum chemistry. They really are alive, even down to the cellular level, and they are studying you too. There were hundreds of such insights.