While the United Sates is still the world leader, Europe is having a good deal of success in the field of advanced genomics and proteomics research. Significant government funding together with the presence of large pharmaceutical companies has made Europe a major competitor in the efforts to deploy genomics and proteomics as vital tools in drug discovery and development.
Current research activities aim at going beyond the realm of human genome sequencing to expand the list of identified proteins and genes. This, ultimately, is expected to help in improved understanding of disease mechanisms and the development of corresponding therapeutics.
However, several issues surrounding drug target identification and validation need to be resolved. For instance, not only is the process extremely time consuming, but lack of standardisation has led to reproducibility issues. Moreover, since genetic variations elicit varied drug responses in different people understanding the impact single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) also becomes complicated.
"These target validation bottlenecks need to be eased with faster, easier-to-use analytical systems, for example, those that can measure biomarkers as surrogate endpoints,” says Technical Insights Research Analyst Katherine Austin from Frost & Sullivan.
In pharmacogenomics studies, which are used to predict an individual patient’s response to a specific drug, researchers need to identify and analyse sequence differences, or polymorphisms and their involvement in drug response.
The complexity of the human proteome is also a significant hurdle in terms of resolution and purification of protein mixtures. Sophisticated techniques need to be developed to separate proteins that exist in varied forms corresponding to the functional needs of a cell.
A UK-based initiative using terahertz radiation or T-rays is set to reveal new information about molecular structure and protein interactions through spectroscopy. Emerging technologies such as microarrays, automation and robotics are also taking genomics and proteomics research to new heights.
“Weeks, if not months, were initially required to elucidate the expression of a single gene,” observes Dr. Austin. “Now, tens and thousands of genes can be studied in a single afternoon.”
Several new computer-modelling approaches such as molecular dynamics (MD), ligand docking (LD), pharmacophore modelling (PM), homology modelling (HM) and enzyme-substrate modelling (ESM) are gaining in popularity. Previously time-consuming and skill-intensive assays and preparations can now be achieved thousands of samples at a time and within a few hours.
Since conventional technologies such as 2D gel electrophoresis pose certain limitations, the development of new technologies such as isotope coded affinity tags, 2D chromatographic separation, terahertz pulsed imaging (TPI) and terahertz pulsed spectroscopy (TPS) and protein arrays are also gaining in prominence.