Advances in genomic technologies provide researchers with access to more complete molecular datasets than ever before. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) in particular propels both basic and translational research forward, enabling scientists to see the full picture of biology. As a result, researchers now know more about the genetics and pathways underlying disease and have databases of actionable information that can be considered for screening and therapeutic development. For instance, scientists used high throughput sequencing technologies for The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project–a massively successful NGS-based research effort to thoroughly characterize the genome, transcriptome, epigenome, and proteome across 33 different types of cancer. The TCGA database is publicly available to all researchers, and has already led to improvements in cancer diagnostics, treatments, and prevention.1,2
Researchers examine different layers of biological regulation with a variety of technologies. From Sanger sequencing for characterizing mutations to quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) for quantifying specific transcripts, ...
