Beyond the Genome - Functional Genomics and Proteomics

Regulation of genetic activity and gene function are now the central points of interest. Genetic diseases are rarely caused by the damage of one single gene. 

Interactions between different genes - possibly located in spatial distance to each other - can hardly be detected by analyzing the genome. 

Understanding the molecular basis of psychiatric diseases is also a challenging task. The identification of genes responsible for such diseases can be a step towards the comprehension of these complex disorders. 

Building up expertise in this field, EMBL with its data library is well positioned to play an important European role in estabfishing a reference DNA array and SAGE database. In the future, the micro-array technology will be developed also for proteins, applying miniaturization, nanotechnology, micro-fabricated devices and reaction chambers. 

Genomics, functional genomics and proteomics, with their enabfing technologies (biological and biochemical methods, instrumentation, automation techniques and databases), are revolutionizing research in biology and pharmaceutical and medical fields. 

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