Illuminating the human genome

The identification and analysis of novel genes and their encoded protein pr oducts remains a vigorous area of research in biology today. Worldwide geno mic and cDNA sequencing projects are now identifying new molecules every da y and the need for methodologies to functionally characterise these protein s has never been greater. The distinct compartmental arrangement of eukaryo tic cells helps define the processes which occur within or in proximity to these membranes, and as such provides one means of inferring protein functi on. We describe here some of the methods recently reported in the literatur e, which use the subcellular localisation of proteins as a first step towar ds their further characterisation.