Functional genomics--the deconstruction of the genome to determine the biologicalfunction of genes and gene interactions--is one of the most fruitful new areas of biology. Thegrowing use of DNA microarrays allows researchers to assess the expression of tens of thousands ofgenes at a time. This quantitative change has led to qualitative progress in our ability tounderstand regulatory processes at the cellular level.This book provides a systematic introductionto the use of DNA microarrays as an investigative tool for functional genomics. The presentation isappropriate for readers from biology or bioinformatics. After presenting a framework for the designof microarray-driven functional genomics experiments, the book discusses the foundations foranalyzing microarray data sets, genomic data-mining, the creation of standardized nomenclature anddata models, clinical applications of functional genomics research, and the future of functionalgenomics.
Isaac S. Kohane is Director of the Children's Hospital Informatics Program, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and an Attending Physician in Endocrinology at Children's Hospital, Boston.