The microcosm of the genome

The state-of-the-art of studies in molecular biology in the context of deve lopment of the structural analysis of genomes and sequencing of total genom es of various organisms, and the prospects of functional genomics in studyi ng the fundamentals of life processes are discussed. The gene and genomic f unctions result from complex interactions of genes and their products: deve loping in time and space; the current methods of functional analysis are in adequate to the intricacy of the living systems. As an approach to understa nding complex functions, systematic comparative analysis of total genomes a t the level of population and species is proposed, The results of comparati ve analysis of the total genomes Of nematode, yeast, and bacteria are consi dered, In conclusion, it is noted that, along with the broad use of compute r technologies, development of the experimental methods for comparative ana lysis of genomes and search for new experimental approaches to studying int egral functions are needed. This is indispensable for the further developme nt of molecular biology, to ensure its transition from elucidation of the s tructure and regulation of genes and their expression products to a systemi c analysis of the cell as an intricate ensemble of interactions.