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Post-genomic virology: the impact of bioinformatics, microarrays and proteomics on investigating host and pathogen
1Wohl Virion Centre, Department of Immunology and Molecular Pathology, Windeyer Institute of Medical Sciences, University College London, 46 Cleveland Street, London W1T 4JF, UK. p.kellam@ucl.ac.uk
Abstract:
Post-genomic research encompasses many diverse aspects of modern science. These include the two broad subject areas of computational biology (bioinformatics) and functional genomics. Laboratory based functional genomics aims to measure and assess either the messenger RNA (mRNA) levels (transcriptome studies) or the protein content (proteome studies) of cells and tissues. All of these methods have been applied recently to the study of host and pathogen interactions for both bacteria and viruses. A basic overview of the technology is given in this review together with approaches to data analysis. The wealth of information produced from even these preliminary studies has shown the generalities, subtleties and specificities of host-pathogen interactions. Such research should ultimately result in new methods for diagnosing and treating infectious diseases.