10.02.2012

Computers permit individual diagnosis

Two Witten researchers have written a reference book on functional genomics. Computer support is indispensable in processing huge amounts of data in research and clinical trials.

---

Biochemist Prof. Dr. Michael Kaufmann and molecular biologist Dr. Claudia Klinger published a book on functional genomics with the renowned Springer publishing house. Functional genomics as a field of research describes which genes are active when and where. It is a subsection of molecular biology and produces huge amounts of data. Prof. Dr. Michael Kaufmann: "Genome sequencing of many organisms is unthinkable without computer assistance. But functional genomics goes one step further to explore what exactly happens to the genetic material: for example, the effects of which genes in which organs at which time, or the behaviour of genes under different ambient conditions. Functional genomics addresses the question which proteins are produced when and under which ambient conditions."

A key element of the subject area is the application of high throughput methods. Dr. Claudia Klinger explains: "Numerous experiments are performed at the same time and not subsequently as in the past. Simultaneous experiments ensure that all individual steps have exactly identical experimental conditions." Advantages are lower costs, and informative, easily comparable results; the major disadvantage for researchers is the huge amount of data produced. And this is where the Witten scientists's input becomes relevant.

Both have studied the importance of computer assistance in life sciences for years. Now Springer invited them to publish a reference book on functional genomics. It appeared early in 2012 in a series entitled "Methods in Molecular Biology" and targets researchers who plan to introduce and expand such techniques in their labs. A short introduction on the basics of each method is followed by chapters that describe experimental procedures and evaluation methods in detail.

Prof. Kaufmann: "Methods of functinal genomics are increasingly applied in individual diagnosis, specifically in personalized medicine. Entire patterns of several thousand measurements are used for evaluation, in contrast to traditional diagnostic procedures such as test and analysis of single blood parameters. Obviously, no physician can analyse the amounts of data. So we depend on computer assistance, i.e. on bioinformatics with specific software."