Bioinformatics and proteomics approaches for aging research

Aging is a natural phenomenon that affects the entire physiology of an organism. Elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying this complex process remains a major challenge today. Humans make poor models for research into aging because of their long life span. Thus, most of the current knowledge is through studies conducted in lower organisms. Large differences in life spans make it difficult to extrapolate the results of experiments carried out in model organisms to humans. Recent advances in genomic and proteomic technologies now permit generation of data pertaining to aging on a large-scale. In addition, several web-based community resources and databases are available that provide easy access to the available data. Use of bioinformatics and systems biology type of approaches provide a framework to start dissecting this complex biological phenomenon. Here, we discuss various genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic approaches that have the potential to provide a comprehensive mechanistic insight into the aging process.