Sam Powell

-Omics Sciences

-Omics??

● What does it mean?● Large-scale study● Looking at the “big picture”● The whole system● Hundreds, to thousands, to hundreds of

thousands, to millions of data points● Bioinformatics

Types of –Omics Sciences

● Genomics● Proteomics● Metabolomics● Connectomics

Genomics

● Study of genomes● But what’s a genome?

● Entirety of an organism’s genetic information

Tools of the Trade

● DNA Sequencing● Microarrays

Significant Landmarks

● Human Genome Project (HGP)● NIH● Francis Collins

● J. Craig Venter● Celera● “Shotgun approach”

● Joint announcement

Future application

● Personalized Medicine● Other related –omics fields

● Cognitive Genomics● Comparative Genomics● Functional Genomics● Metagenomics● Epigenomics● Transcriptomics

● Venter’s Synthetic Genomics

Proteomics

● Study of the structure and function of proteins

● Proteome=the entire complement of proteins of a given organism

● More complex than genome● Changes in response to environment● One gene => hundreds (or even thousands) of

different proteins● Post-translational modification

Tools of the Trade

● Western Blot● 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis

● Isoelectric focusing● SDS-PAGE

● ELISA and BCA analysis● Electrospray ionization

Significant Landmarks

● 1994: Marc Wilkins => “proteome”● 1997: Marc Wilkins => Proteome

Research: New Frontiers in Functional Genomics

● 2000: Publication of most complete proteome from Mycoplasma genitalium (Wasginer et al)

● ExPASy (Expert Protein Analysis System)● http://expasy.org/

● Online databases/resources

Future Application

● Drug therapies● Pharmagenomics

Metabolomics

● Metabolites=end products of cellular processes

● Metabolome= the sum total of all metabolites in a biological cell

● “The systematic study of the unique chemical fingerprints that specific cellular processes leave behind

Tools of the Trade

● Gas chromatography● High performance liquid chromatography● Mass spectrometry● NMR spectroscopy

Significant Landmarks

● Older than you may think● Ancient China

● 1971: Horning et al. introduced the term “metabolic profile”● Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in urine

and tissue extracts● 1974: Sealy et al. use NMR to detect

metabolites in unmodified biological samples● 2005: First metabolomics database: METLIN

● http://metlin.scripps.edu/● Human Metabolome Project (Dr. David

Wishart)

Future Application

● Toxicology ● Nutrigenomics● Metabolism

Connectomics

● High-throughput application of neural imaging

● Connectome● Comprehensive map of

neural connections in brain

Tools of the Trade

● Diffusion MRI● “Tractography”● Diffusion Tensor Imaging● Diffusion Spectrum Imagining

Significant Landmarks

● 2005: Dr. Olaf Sporns and Dr. Patric Hagmann suggest term “connectome”

● Dr. Sebastian Seung at MIT ● I Am My Connectome● TED Talk: www.ted.

com/talks/sebastian_seung.html● Human Connectome Project

Future Applications

● Figuring out consciousness● Individuality, personality, memory● Psychiatric disorders● My research with Dr. Parikh

Crazy for Omics!

● Changing our world