Proteomics

The study of proteins, their parts and their functions is proteomics. The culmination the human genome project’s historic achievement to sequence the three billion DNA bases that define the genetic map of human body has been completed. The human genome project provides us with a precise three-gigabit map of every gene that codes for the component parts that define the human body. However, the genome is a static molecule that merely contains the information that directs another group of molecules’ actions.

The ultimate function of a gene is to provide the blueprint for the construction of proteins. Genomics, sequencing of DNA, is broadening our understanding of the genome and has defined the next step in biological research: determining the functions of proteins. Sequencing DNA will be able to tell us the specific chemical composition of each protein but it will not be able to tell us what function the protein actually performs or participates in when active.

Thus, the focus of biological research in the post-genomic era is shifting to protein research. Proteins are the essential building blocks produced by DNA. A protein consists of a chain of amino acids, which folds into a characteristic shape and may be modified chemically before it becomes physiologically active.