So potent is this new tool that industry guru G. Steven Burrill dubbed 1997 the year of genomics. To be sure, genomics first took Wall Street by storm in 1996. In a nutshell, this combination of genomics target identification, ultra-high throughput screening and other techniques is capable of sifting through upwards of 100,000 molecules a day. To illustrate what is in motion here, it might be helpful to look at the matter relative to an approximate parallel. This toolbox has the potential, in time, to become just as powerful and equally indispensable, perhaps.
Genomics is a term under which a number of related and overlapping technologies are collected.
This approach avoids the need to sequence the remaining genetic material and saves a lot of time and money. Another genomics platform is Gene Mapping, which studies correlations between the inheritance of genetic material from generation to generation with the occurrence of various diseases. By going through loads of data, the chromosome, and then the particular section of the chromosome bearing the disease-causing gene is located. This gene can then be sequenced to determine its function and used as a drug-discovery target. A third platform, Functional Genomics, collects a set of technologies that allows the transformation of genetic information into therapeutic leads.