Postgenomics

Peltonen L, McKusick VA. Genomics and medicine. Dissecting human disease in the postgenomic era. Science 2001 291J5507] 1224—1229. 

Berenbaum MR (1983) Coumarins and caterpillars a case for coevolution. Evolution 37 163-179 Berenbaum MR (1991) Coumarins. In Rosenthal G, Berenbaum MR (eds) Herbivores their interactions with secondary plant metabolites. Academic, New York, pp 221-249 Berenbaum MR (2002) Postgenomic chemical ecology from genetic code to ecological interactions. J Chem Ecol 28 873-896... 

As a yormg, rapidly evolving branch of postgenomic technologies pepdidomics poses a niunber of yet ttmesolved questiorrs and tasks. Some of them are briefly discussed below. 

Kaput, J., Rodriguez, R.L. (2004) Nutritional genomics the next frontier in the postgenomic era. Physiol. Genomics, 16,166-177. 

Jones DT. Protein structure prediction in the postgenomic era. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2000 10 371-9. 

We have demonstrated that this insect cell-free protein synthesis system is one of the most effective protein synthesis systems among those based on animal extracts (2). Furthermore, it has the potential to perform eukaryote-specific protein modifications such as protein W-myristoylation and prenylation (3, 4). Thus, we expect that the insect cell-free protein synthesis system will be a useful method for target protein production in the reverse chemical genetics era, as well as for postgenomic studies. In this chapter, we describe standard protocols to synthesize proteins of interest using the insect cell-free protein synthesis system. 

Over the last decade or so, new ionization techniques such as ES and MALDI have been introduced and have increased still further the use of mass spectrometry in biology. Identification of proteins and characterization of their primary structure is a rapidly growing field in the postgenomic era. ES ionization was the first method to extend the useful mass range of instruments to well over 50 kDa (Mano and Goto... 

In the postgenome era, proteomics has attracted much more attention due to its potential in understanding biological functions and structures at the protein level. The increased possibility of screening using proteomic techniques provides more comprehensive overview of the interaction of proteins, the interplay among processes, and the context in which a specific molecule or pathway may be operating in the mechanism of action of different antioxidants. 

I am confident that with the approach of the postgenome era, an ever-increasing number of human genes will be discovered and their functions elucidated. Combined with the knowledge of human gene polymorphism, genotyping will allow prediction of the genetic predisposition to certain diseases, such as cancer. The new millennium will usher us in a new era of disease-predictive medicine. 

---