OMICS Omics refers to a field of study in biology ending with a suffix omics.

Another related suffix is ome which is used to refer to a totality of some thing which is the basis of study in those fields like; the genome. Omic technology involves analysis of a large number of measurements in a short time period. High-throughput analysis is essential considering data at the "omic" level for example considering all !"A se#uences gene expression levels or proteins at once. $here are four ma%or types of tools that are commonly performed or done in omics technology; &enomics 'roteomics $ranscriptomics (etabolomics Genomics $his is the #uantitative study of genes regulatory and non-coding se#uences. )t is described as the comprehensive analysis of !"A structure and function. &enomics is the study not %ust of the individual genes of an organism but of the whole genome the entire complement of genetic material of an individual. $his also involves large-scale genotyping of *ingle "ucleotide 'olymorphisms +*"'s,. &enomic *"' genotyping measures a person-s genotypes for several hundred thousand *"'s spread throughout the genome.

Proteomics 'roteomics is the large-scale study of proteins particularly their structures and functions. $he proteome is the entire complement of proteins expressed by a cell or tissue type. 'roteomics confirms the presence of the protein and provides a direct measure of the #uantity present. )t focuses on the identification locali.ation and functional analysis of the protein make-up of the cell. )t seeks to profile every protein being expressed in a cell or tissue. $he proteins present in a cell together with their function sub-cellular location and perhaps even structure change dramatically with the organism and the conditions faced by their host cells including/ age checkpoint in the cell cycle and external or internal signaling events.

Transcriptomics $his is the study of 0"A and gene expression. )t involves the measurement of all gene expression values in a cell or tissue type simultaneously.

Metabolomics $his is the study of metabolites and metabolic networks. )t involves the identification and #uantification of all metabolites present in a cell or tissue type.

$ools (icroarrays
'0O$O(A' which combines *!*-'A&1 with shotgun proteomics to enable detection

of changes in gel-migration such as those caused by proteolysis or post translational modifications. $ool used in transcriptomics; $hey are often referred to as gene expression microarrays or "gene chip

$he tools used for genomics include; !"A microarrays are used to measure the expression levels of large numbers of genes simultaneously or to genotype multiple regions of a genome.

Advantages and disadvantages DNA microarray Advantages High throughput/ )t is able to study the behaviour of many genes simultaneously hence lots of information can be obtained with one test

&ood coverage of the genome with the chips that have larger numbers of test spots. cost effective because the arrays are cheap and can easily be replaced Adaptable and comprehensive )t is very user-friendly because the techni#ue is neither radioactive nor toxic provides semi-#uantitative data sensitive enough to detect low abundance transcripts that are represented on a given array

Disadvantages )ncomplete coverage which can lead to false normal results Ability to test only for unbalanced rearrangements +duplications and deletions, and not balanced translocations or inversions.

$he molecular marker technologies which include use of 0estriction 2ragment length polymorphisms +023', Amplified 2ragment 3ength 'olymorphisms +A23', *imple *e#uence 0epeats +**0, e.t.c $he other essential tool is the computer soft wares to analy.e the genomics data obtained. Proteomics $his seeks to profile every protein being expressed i.e the identification of all proteins present in a cell or tissue type. $he tools re#uired here include;

1lectrophoresis is used for separation of protein depending on either si.e or charge. $he 4 dimensional protein gels separate proteins based on charge and si.e while the 5 dimensional protein gels separate basing on si.e alone. Another tool which has been developed is called '0O$O(A' which combines *!*-'A&1 with shotgun proteomics to enable detection of changes in gel-migration such as those caused by proteolysis or post translational modifications. Othe techni#ues used are; matrix-assisted laser desorption6ioni.ation +(A3!), have been employed for rapid determination of proteins in particular mixtures and increasingly electrospray ioni.ation +1*), 'rotein microarrays have been developed to study the protein to protein interactions. $ranscriptomics

$his is the study of 0"A and gene expression. )t involves the measurement of all gene expression values in a cell or tissue type simultaneously. $hey are often referred to as gene expression microarrays or "gene chip. (etabolomics

$his is the study of metabolites and metabolic networks. )t involves the identification and #uantification of all metabolites present in a cell or tissue type.

A DNA microarray is a collection of microscopic DNA spots attached to a solid surface. DNA microarrays can be used to measure changes in expression levels, to detect single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), or to genotype or rese uence mutant genomes DNA microarrays can be used to detect DNA (as in comparative genomic hybridi!ation), or detect "NA (most commonly as cDNA after reverse transcription) that may or may not be translated into proteins. A typical microarray experiment involves the hybridi!ation of an m"NA molecule to the the DNA template from #hich it is originated. $any DNA samples are used to construct an array. %he amount of m"NA bound to each site on the array indicates the expression level of the various genes. An array is an orderly arrangement of samples #here matching of &no#n and un&no#n DNA samples is done based on base pairing rules. An array experiment ma&es use of common assay systems such as microplates or standard blotting membranes.

&ene discovery/ !"A (icroarray technology helps in the identification of new genes know about their functioning and expression levels under different conditions. !isease diagnosis/ !"A (icroarray technology helps researchers learn more about different diseases such as heart diseases mental illness infectious disease and especially the study of cancer. 7ntil recently different types of cancer have been classified on the basis of the organs in which the tumors develop. "ow with the evolution of microarray technology it will be possible for the researchers to further classify the types of cancer on the basis of the patterns of gene activity in the tumor cells. $his will tremendously help the pharmaceutical community to develop more effective drugs as the treatment strategies will be targeted directly to the specific type of cancer. !rug discovery/ (icroarray technology has extensive application in Pharmacogenomics. 'harmacogenomics is the study of correlations between therapeutic responses to drugs and the genetic profiles of the patients. 8omparative analysis of the genes from a diseased and a normal cell will help the identification of the biochemical constitution of the proteins synthesi.ed by the diseased genes. $he researchers can use this information to synthesi.e drugs which combat with these proteins and reduce their effect. $oxicological research/ (icroarray technology provides a robust platform for the research of the impact of toxins on the cells and their passing on to the progeny. $oxicogenomics establishes correlation between responses to toxicants and the changes in the genetic profiles of the cells exposed to such toxicants. ) want to get back to considering some ideas to build infrastructure but ) need to take one other detour first. )-ve used the terms "high-thoughput" and "omics" #uite a bit but what exactly do they mean9 *imply high-throughput refers to %ust that a technology in which a large +or even exhaustive, number of measurements that can be taken in a fairly short time period. "Ome" and "omics" are suffixes that are derived from genome +the whole collection of a person-s !"A as coined by Hans :inkler as a combinaion of "gene" and "chromosome"5, and genomics +the study of the genome,. *cientists like to append to these to any large-scale system +or really %ust about anything complex, such as the collection of proteins in a cell or tissue +the proteome, the collection of metabolites +the metabolome, and the collection of 0"A that-s been transcribed from genes +the transcriptome,. High-throughput analysis is essential considering data at the "omic" level that is to say considering all !"A se#uences gene expression levels or proteins at once +or to be slightly more precise a significant subset of them,. :ithout the ability to rapidly and accurately measure tens and hundreds of thousands of data points in a short period of time there is no way to perform analyses at this level.