What Does genomics Mean
The genome is the area of biology investigating how it is constituted and operates a genome . The genome is called , on the other hand, the series of nucleotides that make up the deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA ) of a species or of a being.
To move forward with the definition of genomics, you must first be clear about several concepts. Let's start with nucleotides , which are organic compounds that are made up of a phosphoric acid, a sugar, and a nitrogenous base.
If the sugar in the nucleotide is deoxyribose, it is a deoxyribonucleotide . When the sugar is ribose, the nucleotide is a ribonucleotide . The DNA , in this context, is a biopolymer having the deoxyribonucleotide as units and establishing the genetic material of each cell .
The sequence of deoxyribonucleotides in DNA is called the genome, which can also be understood as the genetic material of an organism . That is the object of study of genomics.
Characterizing and quantifying genes (DNA sequences that transmit hereditary traits) are two of the tasks of genomics. While genetics looks at individual genes, genomics focuses on DNA sequencing to examine and assemble the structure of a complete genome, as well as its function.
Another difference is that genomics relies on bioinformatics , which consists of applying statistics and computer technologies to the analysis and processing of biological data. Other names by which this discipline is known are biocomputing, computational biology, and biological informatics .
Genomics helps to understand how an organism responds to the action of a drug , for example. It also favors the discovery and optimization of treatments against genetic diseases.
It is important to mention that, so far, few genomes have been sequenced. That is why genomics has a great future ahead of it, as it is expected to make important contributions to health , agriculture and other areas, such as biotechnology. The information that scientists dedicated to this area can collect is truly invaluable.
To cite a specific example, thanks to knowing a complete genomic sequence of several mammals, it becomes possible to understand our genome, both its function and its evolution . In the coming decades, this information may be used in the health field to enhance treatments in patients of all ages, from birth. On the other hand, this knowledge is a double-edged sword: since it could reveal the presence of certain disorders and diseases
We must point out that the field to which genomics belongs is that of molecular biology , a branch of biology that focuses on the processes that take place in living organisms by observing them from a molecular perspective. In more contemporary terms, its goal is to explain the phenomena of living beings based on their macromolecular properties.
As a proper name, Genómica is a Spanish company dedicated to molecular diagnostics. It was founded in 1990 and is located in Madrid. Its objective is to find improvements for the methods of genetic identification and molecular diagnosis; For this they use cutting-edge automatic tools , always having the quality of their results as a priority .
We must not confuse this term with gnomics , whose writing is very similar, since only one E is missing to make them identical. It is a poetic genre characterized by gathering several maxims written in verse to facilitate their memorization. Although people specialized in one of these two fields would not confuse these words, for the others their extreme similarity can cause confusion that goes unnoticed.