Genomics may be described as the comprehensive analysis of
DNA structure and function. Understanding biological diversity
at the whole genome level will yield insight into the origins
of individual traits and disease susceptibility. Though organisms
such as humans are quite similar at the genetic level, differences
exist at a frequency of about 1 in every 1000 nucleotide bases.
This translates into approximately 3 million base differences
between each individual. Such changes are referred to as single
nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and a significant effort is now
underway in the research community to map the individual SNPs
in humans and other organisms. SNPs may be found within gene
coding regions or in non-coding regions. Their effects may be
subtle yielding slight changes in protein function or profound,
leading to the development of disease. A polymorphism is distinct
from a mutation. The latter is considered rare, affecting less
than one percent of the species, whereas a polymorphism is relatively
common and its prevalence is no different to what is considered
normal.
Over the last decade, there has been an unprecedented surge
of data directed at sequencing and categorizing all of genes
in the human genome as well other organisms. There has also been
a concomitant acceleration in the technology dedicated to genomics
research including instrumentation, reagents, software and databases.
This site is dedicated to providing researchers with this information
in an easily accessible and organized format. For a comprehensive
site dedicated to gene expression analysis, please visit www.microarrayworld.com.
