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Biology LibreTexts

11: Genomics and Systems Biology

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Imagine that you could identify and quantify every molecule within a cell (Figure 11.1) in a single assay. You could use this ability to better understand almost any aspect of biology. For example, by comparing the molecular profiles of plants that differed in their resistance to drought, you might discover which combination of genes or proteins makes a crop drought tolerant. Although it is not currently possible to study literally every molecule in a cell in a single experiment, recent advances in molecular biology have made it possible to study many genes (or their products) in parallel.

Fig11.1.png

Figure 11.1: An artist’s depiction of part of an E.coli cell, showing many different types of molecules in their typical abundance. mRNA appears as white lines associated with purple ribosomes, while DNA and proteins such as histones are yellow. (Goodsell, Scripps-EDU)

  • 11.1: ‘Omics Technologies
    The complete set of DNA within an organism is called its genome. Genomics is therefore the large-scale description, using techniques of molecular biology of many genes or even whole genomes at once. This type of research is facilitated by technologies that increase throughput (i.e. rate of analysis), and decrease cost.
  • 11.2: DNA Sequencing
    DNA sequencing determines the order of nucleotide bases within a given fragment of DNA. This information can be used to infer the RNA or protein sequence encoded by the gene, from which further inferences may be made about the gene’s function and its relationship to other genes and gene products. DNA sequence information is also useful in studying the regulation of gene expression.
  • 11.3: Whole Genome Sequencing
    Given that the length of a single, individual sequencing read is somewhere between 45bp and 700bp, we are faced with a problem determining the sequence of longer fragments, such as the chromosomes in an entire genome of humans (3 billion bp). Obviously, we need to break the genome into smaller fragments. There are two different strategies for doing this: (1) clone-by-clone sequencing, and (2) whole genome shotgun sequencing.
  • 11.4: Functional Genomics – Determining Function(s)
  • 11.E: Genomics and Systems Biology (Exercises)
  • 11.S: Genomics and Systems Biology (Summary)


This page titled 11: Genomics and Systems Biology is shared under a CC BY-SA 3.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Todd Nickle and Isabelle Barrette-Ng via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.

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