What I know about Genomics

Genomics is the study of genomes and a genome is the complete genetic code of an organism. More specifically, a genome is the collection of every gene found in each of the chromosome that a given organism has.

The study of a genome can be divided into three general categories: (1) Structural genomics, which focuses in genome sequencing and genome assembly, (2) Functional genomics, studies the function of the genes, and (3) Comparative genomics, comparing the genomes of two related species and how they have evolved.

One famous genomic study was the Human Genome Project which lasted more than ten years. A scientist named Craig Venture was one of the first to sequence the human genome. The human genome project was a very important genome study directed by Francis Collins. 

The importance of this project was to discover every single gene in the human DNA and determine the exact genetic code of the human being. 

With this information now being available since 2003 it is possible for other scientists and research institutes to study a gene of interest and discover what are the causes for genetic diseases.

Why Genomics?

During my last semester at the University of Puerto Rico, I took a course called "Genomics" and I was not completely sure what this course was about. As the semester went on, I noticed that this course was really interesting and that's when realized that I really enjoyed genetics and specifically the topic of genomics. For this reason, I would like to explore the topic more deeply and obtain a better understanding of how this science can be useful for future discovery of important disease genes.

Genomics is the study of genomes (the entire DNA code of an organism), and with this modern science it is possible to explore the entire genome of any desired organism; be it plants, animals, or bacteria. Even more interesting, it is possible to compare the genomes of two or more organism and genetically identify what is it that make them different from each other.

With the technology available today, there are many ways in which a genome can be studied. As the technology advances it is possible to do a genome in three weeks. Currently, I am involved in a project called the Puerto Rican Parrot Genome, and recently we received the first genome wide sequence of this bird.


Puerto Rican parrot drawing
by
Audrey Guiblet

 http://www.cb.pr/news03.php?nt_id=58178&ct_id=1


Throughout this English course I will develop my topic and discuss the different aspects of genomics.
Some of the aspects that can be discussed are: sequencing techniques, assembly  methods, and genome annotation.