The genomic gold rush that followed, and which has now led to the completion of the human genome sequence, has flooded the drug discovery pipeline with more than 75,000 sequences of potential targets. Unfortunately, although genomics delivered the mass of raw information as promised, genomics technologies have largely been unable to extract the anticipated 10,000 therapeutic targets from the crude sequence ore. The inability to identify valid drug targets by examining gene sequence information has created a gap between genomics and drug discovery. This gap reflects the fact that in most cases, gene sequence reveals little about protein function or disease relevance. Accordingly, the true value of the genome sequence information will only be realized after a function has been assigned to all of the encoded proteins.
Proteomics seeks to provide functional information for all proteins.
Much like genomics, proteomics is more of a concept than a defined technology, and it refers to any protein-based approach that has the capacity to provide new information about proteins on a genomewide scale. However, proteomics is poised to yield remarkable discoveries because this set of proteins is likely to include new enzymes, signaling molecules, and pathways that may be excellent and unanticipated therapeutic targets. Applying proteomics technologies will not only provide validated targets for drug discovery but will also increase the efficiency of the drug discovery process downstream. Clearly, proteomics is destined to bridge the gap between genomics and drug discovery. The primary goal of proteomics is to provide functional annotations for the entire proteome.