FUNCTIONAL GENOMICS



Functional Genomics

[Institute Name]

Functional Genomics

Introduction

An organism's genome could be likened to an enormous set of encyclopedias, and Functional Genomics is the science of reading and interpreting all the entries in the set. The entries in the encyclopedia could be equated with the genes encoded in an organism's genome. The genes contained within an organism's genome control every aspect of its life. They control growth, maintenance, and development, and for humans, the genome also includes information that controls behavior, physiology, and the susceptibility to some diseases. Disease susceptibility or resistance is of great concern and interest in the areas of medicine and public health. Determining the interplay of genetic information and the detection, prevention, and treatment of disease is the combined job of epidemiologists and genome researchers.

Discussion

Functional Genomics is a field that encompasses many areas of science, simply because it involves the smallest building block of life, DNA. Almost every cell within an organism contains its unique genome. Genomes are inherent in an individual and a species. Every individual or organism within a species has certain derivations of that species' genome. Genomes of individuals within a species are quite similar; for example, all humans are at least 99% genetically identical. Because of this close similarity, it is enough to study one or a few genomes within a species to glean information for the entire population.

Genes contain DNA, and chromosomes are made up of genes. Broken down even further, DNA contains the information to make RNA. RNA contains the information to make proteins. All these different levels of genetic structure make up a genome. DNA is made up of four similar chemicals called bases. These bases are repeated in a different order many times and, in the case of humans, enough times to make up approximately 3 billion base pairs. It is the difference in this order that accounts for the diversity within humans and between humans and other organisms. Within the 3 billion base pairs that make up the human genome, there are approximately 20,000 to 25,000 genes. Genes contain the information to make proteins, and RNA is the template that serves as the mediator in creating proteins from genes.

The cell uses the components of RNA as the building blocks of proteins. Proteins are composed of 20 different elements called amino acids. Proteins are involved in many different facets of the working human body. Proteins act as enzymes that are involved in metabolism. They can also be hormones that are involved in a process known as cell signaling. Cell signaling is a type of communication between and within cells as a response to the environment within the body. This communication guides cell actions.

Proteins also act as transporters. Examples of transporters proteins are antibodies that transport or bind antigens, foreign substances in the body, to the immune system for destruction. Hemoglobin, the protein found in red blood cells, transports oxygen from the lungs to other parts of the body. Proteins are also part of the structural components of the ...