Metabolomics - CERM

Systems Biology
and the rise of the “-omics”
Omics technologies such as genomics and high-throughput DNA sequencing were introduced in parallel to the
Human Genome Project since 1990s. According to one etymological analysis, the suffix 'ome' is derived from the
Sanskrit OM ("completeness and fullness") (Lederberg and McCray, 2001). Omics technologies and various
neologisms that define their application contexts, however, are more than a simple play on words. They substantially
transformed both the throughput and the design of scientific experiments. The omics technologies allow the
generation of copious amounts of data at multiple levels of biology from gene sequence and expression to protein
and metabolite patterns underlying variability in cellular networks and function of whole organ systems (Nicholson
and Lindon, 2008; Wilke et al., 2008)
Genomics
Study of genes
Epigenomics
The study of the complete set of epigenetic (DNA methylation)
modifications on the genetic material of a cell, known as the
epigenome
Transcriptomics
All the mRNA in a cell/tissue/organism
Proteomics
All the proteins in a cell/tissue/organism
Metallomics
comprehensive analysis of the entirety of metal and metalloid species
within a cell or tissue type
Metabonomics/Metabolomics
All the metabolites in a cell/tissue/organism