Genomic technologies and the interrogation of the transcriptome

Functional genomics refers to the study of whole genomes and the function of its constituent parts to explain biological processes. Though these investigations may involve whole proteome analysis, the primary focus is on the transcriptome and how it is regulated. Recent advances in technologies that can interrogate cellular transcripts on a genome-wide scale seek the complete disclosure of the transcriptome over time-intervals and across many different cellular states. This massively complex data when viewed as a whole can provide surprisingly precise assessment of cellular conditions. Moreover, these data can define hierarchies of importance and have shown us new transcriptional elements. Herein, we describe the technologies and the experimental strategies to study the transcriptome that would be pertinent to cancer and ageing research.