"Omics" in general aims to study the diverse genes, proteins, metabolic pathways in the body to understand health and disease. The study of genes, proteins and metabolic pathways in the body has helped to develop new technologies for high throughput screening and testing that can be used for drug target discovery.
Proteomics
The structure and function of proteins was discussed previously in this paper. Proteomics deals with the study of proteins, genes and disease. Currently, researchers are working to develop a map of the human proteome, which would identify novel protein families, protein interactions, and signaling pathways in the human body
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. Proteomic technology can be applied to medicine because it plays a vital role in drug discovery, diagnostics and molecular medicine
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. Researchers study proteins that cause diseases and then can create and develop new drugs that mimic protein function or inhibit defective proteins in the body
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. Advances in proteomics can help scientists create "personalized" medications that are more effective and have fewer side effects. Additionally, research on protein families and classes could help when looking at diseases like cancer, diabetes and heart disease
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. Researchers are currently identifying unique patterns of protein expression, known as biomarkers, that are associated with specific diseases in order to develop ways to combat and treat these diseases
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Genomics
Genomics is the study of the human genome, which is the complete set of DNA in the human body. Deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA, is the chemical compound found in the nuclei of cells that contains all of the instructions for the growth, development and activity of living organisms. DNA is made up of four chemical base pairs, adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G) and cytosine (C). The sequences of these four nucleotide bases determine the meaning of the information encoded in the DNA as genes. An organism's complete set of DNA is its genome, and is approximately 3 billion DNA base pairs
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. Researchers that were part of The Human Genome Project, led by the NIH, worked to sequence the entire human genome so that the sequence could be readily and freely available in public databases for use
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. The project was successfully completed in 2003 and resulted in a sequence of human DNA derived from several individuals
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. It is a generic sequence of DNA that is used as a research for biomedical studies, specifically related to health and disease. Scientists have been able to use the human genome in their genomic research of complex diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease
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. This research has helped to develop improved diagnostics, more effective therapeutic strategies, approaches for clinical efficacy, and better decision-making tools for patients and providers
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. New drugs based on genomic research are also currently being developed.
