The Rapid Development of Functional Genomics

Functional genomics is an area of study within molecular biology which attempts to analyse genetic products, in order to understand the function and interaction of genes, and the proteins produced by them. It is a genome-wide method used under different environmental conditions and the DNA function can be deciphered through a combination of genes, proteins and transcripts. The new approach provides geneticists with the possible answers of understanding how genes interact with one another and analysing DNA sequences of organisms which are unique to biological systems.

Genomics is undergoing rapid development from the analysis, mapping and sequencing of genomes to development about genome function. [Hieter and Boguski, 1997] Genomics looks at the analysis of DNA sequences whilst functional genomics is used to understand the relation of genes and proteins. [Fields et al., 1999] The analysis of genomes has more recently been divided into two groups; functional and structural genomics. Structural genomics is the first phase of genome analysis, which produces an organisms’ genetic, transcript and physical maps. [Hieter and Boguski, 1997] The purpose of structural genomics is the allocation of three-dimensional structures to proteomes; which has given a new viewpoint on protein families and folds, and domain structures within gene sequences. [Teichmann et al., 1999]

Functional genomics requires genome-wide experimental approaches that will understand the behaviour of biological systems simultaneously, and analyse multiple genes and proteins of an organism at once. The expanding field of functional genomics promises to “narrow the gap between sequences and function whilst developing a new insight into biological systems.” [Hieter and B...

... middle of paper ...

...g developed, however DNA microarray has allowed research into the axon guidance pathways, allowing scientists to analyse the change in pathway proteins which lead to the disease. Furthermore, the analysis of the α-synuclein gene, the ALDH1A1 gene and the SEMA5A gene show possibilities of conclusive data as to which genes are affected and which genes cause an affect and lead to Parkinson’s disease symptoms. However there are always limitations, which have been more evident with research into neurological diseases, as human or animal cell tissue is always needed, and the most challenging area is gaining the accurate cell tissue from the diseased location of the brain. [Mandel et al., 2003]

Nevertheless, functional genomics is an area of research which has been widely developed due to microarray technology; providing a wide-scale platform for the analysis of genes.