Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 1.8
Block diagram of
finite state machine
Inputs
Outputs
Combinational
Logic
Current state
Next state
Memory
1.4
Genomics Overview
Before introducing some key ideas in logic synthesis, we first present an overall
view of genomics and its key issues. In genomics, an accurate representation of the
GRN is necessary for understanding how genetic diseases occur and how we can
treat these diseases. Over the lifetime of an organism, mutations can occur in the
genome, causing changes in its normal biological behavior. Mutations are caused
several environmental factors (radiation, drugs, etc.). Once a genome is mutated, the
GRN behavior may deviate from that of a healthy organism. Cancer and gene-related
diseases are often the result of a failure in the gene signaling mechanisms, leading
to incorrect gene regulation and its associated functions. With a GRN-based view of
the biological functioning of the organism, we can potentially target specific gene(s)
for drugs, and hence modify their genetic expression, thereby treating the disease.
This is a promising way to treat genetic diseases, and can yield the possibility of
“personalized medicine” - targeted and specific disease prevention and treatment
based on an individual's genetic information [
20
], [
21
].
We can divide genomics into four main areas, biological observations, GRN
inference, GRN intervention, and treatment, as outlined in Fig.
1.9
. Biological obser-
vations refer to measurement of the GRN including gene expression measurements,
pathways, sequencing, biopsy, and so on. GRN inference aims to infer a model of the
GRN from observations of the biological system, for example, inferring gene predic-
tors or topology, or gene regulating function from binary valued or continuous gene
expression measurements. The GRN must describe both the topology and interaction
Biological
observations
- gene expression
- pathways
GRN
inference
- topology
- function
GRN
intervention
- disease gene
identification
Treatment
- custom drug
manufacture
drug selection
clinical trials
Fig. 1.9
Overview of genomics research areas
