Proteomics: Capacity versus utility

Until recently scientists studied genes or proteins one at a time. With imp rovements in technology, new tools have become available to study the compl ex interactions that occur in biological systems. Global studies are requir ed to do this, and these will involve genomic and proteomic approaches. Hig h-throughput methods are necessary in each case because the number of genes and proteins in even the simplest of organisms are immense. In the develop mental phase of genomics, the emphasis was on the generation and assembly o f large amounts of nucleic acid sequence data. Proteomics is currently in a phase of technological development and establishment, and demonstrating th e capacity for high throughput is a major challenge. However, funding bodie s (both in the public and private sector) are increasingly focused on the u sefulness of this capacity. Here we review the current state of proteome re search in terms of capacity and utility.