More and more, scientists are relying on genomics to tackle complex research problems. One needs only to look at the advancements in medical research to see the power of a genomics approach. Other research fields are now building genomics resources to expand and complement current physiological data. Developing these resources takes significant time and effort, but will be well worth the investment at the end.  However, why are we using genomics in the first place? What advantages can a genomics approach give us?

Genomics allows us to probe the link between an organism’s physiology (how it functions) and its genetic makeup (genes and genetic control factors). Expression of an organism’s genes directs, if you will, its functions and responses. Physiological responses are typically complex and may involve many different genes. Also, different responses can use the same genetic machinery making it hard to identify genes specific to one response. Whole genome expression studies play an important role during these initial investigations. They can provide a genetic snapshot, or picture if you will, of genes actively expressed at a given time. Comparing these snapshots between individuals and treatments allows you to see what genes may be important in the response. This is only the beginning as we still need to understand how the genes and gene products bring about the physiological response.

Genomics also allows us to investigate links between individuals, populations, and even different species. We can use natural variation in DNA sequence amongst individuals to identify markers for tracking movement or migration patterns. We can also follow inheritance of these markers (or even specific genes themselves) from generation to generation. This allows us to assess relationships within and across populations. If any of these markers is linked to a variable, yet important trait, we now have a tool to follow that trait through space and time. We can combine these ideas and track movement of populations across landscapes and see what genetic/physiological traits may make them successful in their new locals. A couple of other examples you may be familiar with are familial disease histories (following gene flow) and forensic science or paternity testing (identification based on genetic markers).

Having looked at some advantages of genomics, what hinders its application in other research fields? The biggest bottleneck in many cases is the availability of genomic resources. We need sequence information for the organism in question to successfully employ genomics tools. When moving to study new organisms, there can often be minimal information. Collecting appropriate sequence information, and ensuring it is accurate, takes time. However, once it is available, we can then take advantage of the powerful genomics tools to investigate more difficult and complex research questions.