The promise of genomics 

Drew Sheneman, New Jersey -- The Newark Star Ledger, E-mail Drew.

"I think I found a corner piece!" http://cagle.slate.msn.com/news/gene/gene14.asp Human Genome cartoons, Slate magazine, US 

Vision vs. "some assembly required"

Expectations management

Genomics metaphor

Weather
We can now predict hurricanes better than we could 100 years ago. 
But we still can’t really control hurricanes (or earthquakes). 
Improved building codes greatly reduce mortality. 
But we are far from having complete control over nature.
We may never have the degree of control that some people are predicting.

Racing to the beginning of the road, Robert Weinberg, 1998  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0716732831/ref=dp_proddesc_0/104-2462065-1932725?ie=UTF8&n=283155

If genomics is a race, it is a marathon, not a 100 yard dash.

  Back to Where's my stuff? Taxonomies & ontologies can help

Genomics glossaries & taxonomies
 Homepage, search engine, table of contents

Biotechnology & pharmaceutical applications  Business of biotechnology Clinical genomics Drug discovery & development  Genomics  Pharmacogenomics  Proteomics -Omes and -omics More... Applications Map 

Informatics overview  Algorithms & data analysis Bioinformatics Cheminformatics Computers & computing Information management & interpretation In silico & molecular modeling More... Informatics Map

Technologies overview  Gene amplification & PCR   Mass Spectrometry  Microarrays & protein chips  Nanoscience & miniaturization  Sequencing  more... Technologies Map

Genomic biology overview  Basic genetics & genomics   Gene definitions   Model & other organisms   Nomenclature  Pharmaceutical biology  Proteins  SNPs & other genetic variations  Sequences  More... Genomic biology map

Genetics & genomics: What’s the difference?
Genetics looks at single genes, one at a time, like a snapshot.  

Genomics is trying to look at all the genes (and gene products - RNA and proteins) as a dynamic system, over time, determining how they interact and influence biological pathways, networks and physiology, in a much more global sense. A dynamic process, 2D vs. 3D and 4D, systems biology

Biology for non biologists, for students & teachers

Basic genetics & genomics  

Biotechnology & pharmaceutical applications

genomics: Generation of information about living things by systematic approaches that can be performed on an industrial scale. [Roger Brent "Genomic biology" Cell 100: 169-183 Jan 2, 2000]    Genomics glossary has more. 

proteomics: The analysis of complete complements of proteins. ...  proteomics now refers to any procedure that characterizes large sets of proteins. [Stanley Fields, "Proteomics in Genomeland" Science 291: 1221- 1224 Feb. 16, 2001]  

Industrial scale analysis of many proteins and their interactions, over time, ultimately tying this into physiological processes and biological pathways and networks. Proteomics glossary 

Beyond proteomics ? -Omes & -omics glossary

Informatics terms, concepts and skills are increasingly important.

informatics: The study of the application of computer and statistical techniques to the management of information. In genome projects, informatics includes the development of methods to search databases quickly, to analyse DNA sequence information, and to predict protein sequence and structure from DNA sequence data. [ORD Office of Rare Diseases, NIH glossary] 

Narrower terms:  bioinformatics, cheminformatics; clinical informatics, genome informatics, medical informatics, molecular informatics, pharmacoinformatics, pharmainformatics protein informatics, research informatics,  social informatics

Ask five bioinformaticians for a definition of bioinformatics and you'll get seven definitions.  Michael Liebman, Macroresults through Microarrays, April 30, 2002, Boston MA

Useful concepts: bottom-up, complexity, granularity, interoperability, just- in- time information,  metadata, new paradigms, nonlinear, top- down

Informatics overview  

Ewan Birney's "disarmingly simple advice to scientists debuting in bioinformatics "Don't feel like an idiot, because everyone does when they first start" Declan Butler "Are you ready for the revolution? Nature 409 (6822): 758- 760, 15 Feb. 2001

Want more?  Genomics II Technologies & Lab bench to bedside 
Doing (a few of) the numbers

Back to Where's my stuff (top) SLA June 10, 2002 presentation or Where's my stuff...Best practices 

SLA presentation June 10, 2002 Top

mchitty@healthtech.com Cambridge Healthtech Institute http://www.healthtech.com http://www.genomicglossaries.com