Essay !1 - Genomics & Omics - Code : KSI0001
Essay 1 - Genomics & Omics
Sangin Kim
Genomics refers to the study of the genome in contrast to genetics which refers to the study of genes and their roles in inheritance. Genomics can be considered a discipline in genetics. It applies recombinant DNA, DNA sequencing methods, and bioinformatics to sequence, assemble, and analyze the function and structure of genomes. The field includes efforts to determine the entire DNA sequence of organisms and fine-scale genetic mapping. The field also includes studies of intragenomic phenomena such as heterosis, epistasis, pleiotropy or other interactions between loci and alleles within the genome. It is the new science that deals with the discovery and noting of all the sequences in the entire genome of a particular organism. The genome can be defined as the complete set of genes inside a cell. Genomics, is, therefore, the study of the genetic make-up of organisms. Genomics is an entry point for looking at the other ‘omics’ sciences.
Omics informally refers to a field of study in biology ending in -omics, such as genomics, proteomics or metabolomics. It reflects the change in orientation towards the quantitative analysis of complete or near-complete assortment of all the constituents of a system. Functional genomics aims at identifying the functions of as many genes as possible of a given organism. It combines different -omics techniques such as transcriptomics and proteomics with saturated mutant collections.
Genomics and proteomics have provided extensive information regarding the genotype but convey limited information about phenotype. Low molecular weight compounds are the closest link to phenotype.
Metabolomics can be used to determine differences between the levels of thousands of molecules between a healthy and diseased plant. The technology can also be used to determine the nutritional difference between traditional and genetically modified crops, and in identifying plant defense metabolites.
References
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genomics
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omics
3. http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/pocketk/15/default.asp
4. http://geneticscertificate.stanford.edu/courses/genomics-and-the-other-omics
