Neurogenomics is study that of how the genome
of an organism influences the function of its nervous system and development.
This field intends to unite neurobiology and functional genomics in order to
understand the nervous system as a whole from a genomic perspective.
The nervous system in vertebrates is majorly made up of
two types of cells – neuroglial cells and neurons. Hundreds of different types
of neurons exist in humans, with varying functions – some of them process
external stimuli; others generate a response to stimuli; others organize in
centralized structures (brain, spinal ganglia) that are responsible for cognition,
perception, and regulation of motor functions. Neurons in these centralized
locations tend to organize in giant networks and communicate extensively with
each other. Prior to the availability of expression arrays and DNA sequencing
methodologies, researchers sought to understand the cellular behaviour of
neurons (including synapse formation and neuronal development and
regionalization in the human nervous system) in terms of the underlying
molecular biology and biochemistry, without any understanding of the influence
of a neuron's genome on its development and behaviour.
As our understanding of the genome has expanded, the role
of networks of gene interactions in the maintenance of neuronal function and
behaviour has garnered interest in the neuroscience research
community. Neurogenomics allows scientists to study the nervous system of
organisms in the context of these underlying regulatory and transcriptional
networks. This approach is distinct from neurogenetics, which emphasizes
the role of single genes without a network-interaction context when studying
the nervous system
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