Key Difference – Genomics vs Proteomics
Genomics and proteomics are two important branches of molecular biology. The genome is the genetic material of an organism. It contains genes written with organisms’ genetic information (genetic codes). The studies carried out to find the information about the genome is known as genomics. The nucleotide sequence of a gene specifies the amino acid sequence of a protein via the genetic code. Genes are transcribed into mRNA and mRNA are translated to produce necessary proteins. Proteome represents the total expressed proteins of an organism. The studies carried out to find the characteristics, structures, functions and expressions of the entire protein set in a cell is known as proteomics. Thus, the key difference between genomics and proteomics is that genomics is a branch of molecular biology which studies the genes of an organism while proteomics is a branch of molecular biology which studies the total proteins in a cell. Genomic studies are important to understand the structure, function, location, regulation of the genes of an organism. Proteomics studies are more beneficial since proteins are the real functional molecules in cells and represent actual physiological conditions.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Genomics
3. What is Proteomics
4. Side by Side Comparison – Genomics vs Proteomics
5. Summary
What is Genomics?
Genomics is the study of the entire genome of an organism. It is an important branch of molecular biology which deals with recombinant DNA technology, DNA sequencing, and Bioinformatics to investigate the structure and function of the genome (organisms’ complete set of DNA). DNA is composed of four bases, and the genetic information within a gene is written in four base languages which are required for making the organism. Genes are responsible for making proteins, and they are the units of DNA that carry the instructions for making a specific protein or set of proteins in a cell. Hence, the studies which carried out about genes are really important for understanding the complex diseases, genetic disorders, mutations, important gene regulations, interactions between genes and environmental factors, disease diagnosis, developing treatments and therapies, etc. Thus, genomic studies are very important since it addresses all genes and their interactions and behaviours.
Figure 01: Use of Genomics
What is Proteomics?
Proteins are essential macromolecules found in cells. They are important for many physiological functions occurring in an organism. Almost all biochemical reactions are catalyzed by the proteins present in the cells. Genes are stored with genetic instructions to produce proteins. The genetic code is transformed into an amino acid sequence which determines a particular protein. This process is known gene expression. When required, genes are expressed and synthesized as proteins. The entire protein set of a cell is known as proteome. The study of the proteome of a cell is known as proteomics. The structures, characteristics, interactions and functions of proteins are studied under proteomics to investigate how proteins affect the cellular processes.
Organisms contain thousands of different proteins which serve a variety of functions in the cells. Genomic studies provide key information to perform proteomic studies since genes encode for mRNA molecules and mRNA encode for proteins. Proteomics studies are important in many fields; this is especially useful in cancer biology, where it can be used to reveal abnormal proteins that lead to cancers.
Figure 02: Protein Synthesis
What is the difference between Genomics and Proteomics?
Genomics vs Proteomics |
|
| Genomics is the study of the genome of an organism. Genes are studied under genomics. | Proteomics is the study of entire proteins of a cell. Proteins are studied under proteomics. |
| Study Areas | |
| Genomics cover the area of genome mapping, sequencing, expression analysis, gene structure analysis, etc. | Proteomics covers the characterization of proteins, study of structure and function of proteins, etc. |
| Classification | |
| Two major types named structural genomics and functional genomics. | Three major categories named structural proteomics, functional proteomics, and expression proteomics. |
| Nature of Study Material | |
| The genome is constant. Every cell of an organism has the same set of genes. | Proteome is dynamic and varies. The set of proteins produced in different tissues varies according to the gene expression. |
Summary – Genomics vs Proteomics
Genomics is the study of the complete genome of an organism. Proteomics is a branch of molecular biology which studies the complete protein set expressed in a cell in order to understand the structure and function of proteins and how proteins affect the cell processes. Genomics cannot explain the actual conditions of the cells due to the post-translational modifications occurred during protein synthesis. Hence, proteomics is important to understand the actual conditions and the functions of the cells. This is the difference between genomics and proteomics.
References:
1. Rang, Jie, Hao He, Ting Wang, Xuezhi Ding, Mingxing Zuo, Meifang Quan, Yunjun Sun, Ziquan Yu, Shengbiao Hu, and Liqiu Xia. “Comparative Analysis of Genomics and Proteomics in Bacillus thuringiensis 4.0718.” PLOS ONE. Public Library of Science, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2017.
2. Macaulay, Iain C., Philippa Carr, Arief Gusnanto, Willem H. Ouwehand, Des Fitzgerald, and Nicholas A. Watkins. “Platelet genomics and proteomics in human health and disease.” Journal of Clinical Investigation. American Society for Clinical Investigation, 01 Dec. 2005. Web. 01 Apr. 2017
Image Courtesy:
1. “Genome-en” By William Crochot – (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Using genomics to identify causes of drug resistance” By NHS National Genetics and Genomics Education Centre – Flickr (CC BY 2.0) via Commons Wikimedia