What I have heard from them is that it requires "wet lab experience" to really learn it. Not sure how true it is.
If you were to ask me, programmers can't learn it because what they are learning is based on complete misunderstanding of organic chemistry (which has not been updated with the modern understanding of physics)... so it is bound to drive anyone who tries to make sense of it crazy. The only way to learn it is to accept all the rules and ALL the exceptions to the rules as the foundation and go from there, which not a lot of people are willing to do.
> what they are learning is based on complete misunderstanding of organic chemistry (which has not been updated with the modern understanding of physics)... so it is bound to drive anyone who tries to make sense of it crazy
This sounds like an extraordinary claim, especially since organic chemists work along physical chemists and chemical physicists who presumably have a strong modern understanding of physics. It would be better for an expert to chime in, but I don’t see the incentive where organic chemists would be content to let their field stay out-of-date.
If you think those who study microbiology study it with quantum chemistry of organic compounds as a foundation, you would be very wrong. I'm not saying they don't exist, I'm just saying it is way more uncommon than you'd think. Ask around your network and find out for yourself.
It looks like I may have parsed your comment in an unintended way. I read it as, roughly: 'To learn microbiology, a programmer must learn organic chemistry as a prerequisite [true for the university I attended]. However, the concepts to study organic chemistry are based on an outdated view of physics, which is why they have so many rules and exceptions.'
I believe that any good organic chemist must have strength in physical chemistry (both to excel in the field, plus it's typically a degree requirement), and physical chemists are well-informed of quantum mechanics (also typically a degree requirement, with at least an introduction to QM in most introductory chemistry courses in the unit about atomic bonding).
However, it's more plausible to believe the claim (re-interpreted) that many microbiologists don't have a strong foundation in organic chemistry or modern physics. Still, I'm skeptical that those who make it to a tenured professorship can still have these weaknesses, as I'm under the impression that the field is cross-disciplinary with collaborations with biochemists, who can then bring in their stronger background in chemistry (and thus organic chemistry, physical chemistry, and physics). Leading microbiologists (e.g. those tenured at MIT and other top institutions) who influence the field should also have familiarity with these subjects.
If you were to ask me, programmers can't learn it because what they are learning is based on complete misunderstanding of organic chemistry (which has not been updated with the modern understanding of physics)... so it is bound to drive anyone who tries to make sense of it crazy. The only way to learn it is to accept all the rules and ALL the exceptions to the rules as the foundation and go from there, which not a lot of people are willing to do.