Application of bioinformatics in cancer epigenetics

With the completion of the human genome sequence and the advent of high-throughput genomics-based technologies, it is now possible to study the entire human genome and epigenome. The challenge in the next decade of biomedical research is to functionally annotate the genome, epigenome, transcriptome, and proteome. High-throughput genome technology has already produced massive amounts of data including genome sequences, single nucleotide polymorphisms, and microarray gene expression. Our ability to manage and analyze data needs to match the speed of data acquisition. We will summarize our studies of allele-specific gene expression using genomic and computational approaches and identification of sequence motifs that are signature of imprinted genes. We will also discuss about how bioinformatics can facilitate epigenetic researches.