Don't deceive yourself into thinking that you can program your way into biological research. Biological research has very little to do with apps/programming/web-development.
Synthetic biology requires an understanding of chemistry, molecular biology, and genetic structure.
DNA manipulation would be orders of magnitude more difficult and time consuming with out computers as would anything involving chemistry, molecular biology and understanding genetic structure.
Apps and programming/automation have everything to do with the future of the field, its not just test tubes.
True, but from what I've seen biologist for the most part can get along just fine with only a basic knowledge of REGEX and spreadsheet software.
The biologist I've worked with tend to be a resourceful bunch, capable of solving difficult problems with simple tools.
EDIT: Granted, there is a growing need for data-scientist who can help sort through mountains of data for relevant information. But I don't think there is much need for pre-built software solutions. Each lab faces unique problems, and their software development needs, if any, are unique.
What if I have that knowledge (in addition to software engineering) and would like to contribute in some sort of open-source capacity? Know of any other projects I could look into? :)
Platforms like ClothoCAD are great places for those interested in open-source software and syn-bio applications.
http://www.clothocad.org/