(Molecular) Bio - informatics =
is conceptualizing biology in terms of molecules (in the sense of physical-chemistry) and then applying "informatics" techniques (derived from disciplines such as applied math, CS, and statistics) to understand and organize the information associated with these molecules, on a large-scale.
A key approach in genomic research is to divide the cellular contents into distinct sub-population, each given an -omic term. Broadly, these 'omes can be divided into those that represent a population of molecules, and those that define their actions. For example, the proteome is the full complement of proteins encoded by the genome, and the secretome is the part of it secreted from the cell. Carrying this further, we suggest the term "translatome" to describe the members of the proteome weighted by their abundance, and the "functome" to describe all the functions carried out by these. Once the individual sub-populations are defined and analyzed, we can then try to reconstruct the full organism by interrelating them, eventually allowing for a full and dynamic view of the cell.
We present a list of some of these omes.
Handout for MB&B 474b3, Copyright 1998, Mark.Gerstein@yale.edu, All Rights Reserved