Functional genomics

The sequencing of the human genome has provided the scientific community with the roadmap of life (1,2), yet the understanding of this map is dependent on the elucidation of the function of the approx 30,000 to 35,000 genes that have been predicted/identified from the sequence of the human genome. As recently reviewed, however, only one-third of these genes have any inferred function ascribed to them, whereas approximately one-sixth or less have a confirmed action (3,4). Moreover, it is estimated that there are as many as 100,000 distinct proteins with presumably distinct biological function. The challenge facing scientists in the post-genome era is to construct a model of the organism that includes gene sequence and expression, protein structure and function, the molecular interactions that occur between proteins and other molecules to create pathways, and the combination of the many complex pathways that results in functioning cells, tissues, and organisms. Only by addressing and meeting this challenge can science utilize the vast potential of the human genome project to link gene to function in health and disease. To begin to address this problem, a combination of automated technologies, novel experimental strategies, and the newly available genomic sequence data are permitting scientists to begin to assemble the individual components of biological systems into a map of the human organism that will provide an understanding of the function of different genes and gene pathways.