Functional genomics

Complete genome sequences are providing a framework to allow the investigat ion of biological processes by the use of comprehensive approaches. Genome analysis also is having a dramatic impact on medicine through its identific ation of genes and mutations involved in disease and the elucidation of ent ire microbial gene sets. Studies of the sequences of model organisms, such as that of the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans, are providing extraord inary insights into development and differentiation that aid the study of t hese processes in humans. The field of functional genomics seeks to devise and apply technologies that take advantage of the growing body of sequence information to analyze the full complement of genes and proteins encoded by an organism.