Omics in Radiation Biology: Surprised but Not Disappointed

Abstract

High-throughput omics platforms have pioneered our approach to understanding biological and cellular processes. Omics technologies provide powerful tools for studying various molecules, such as genes, proteins, and metabolites, in a particular state and at a particular time. Although omics has had a presence in the radiation community for more than 3 decades, the use of it is still in its infancy. Omics studies enable radiation researchers to understand the molecular mechanism underlying the biological effects of radiation exposure on normal and cancerous tissues, and to answer critical questions such as individual sensitivity, risk assessment, and biomarker discovery. In this commentary, we take a look back at the omics studies that have been conducted in radiation research in the last 20 years and discuss whether omics has fulfilled expectations by examining the knowledge and research gaps in radiation omics.

Transcriptomic analysis reveals prolonged neurodegeneration in the hippocampus of adult C57BL/6N mouse deafened by noise

“…In this case, omics studies can provide a broader understanding. An omics study quantitatively analyzes the whole set of specific biomolecules, such as the genome, transcriptome, proteome, or metabolome, in a given time (Vailati-Riboni et al, 2017 ; Subedi et al, 2022 ). This enables us to obtain a balanced insight into complex genetic mechanisms.…”

Glutathione and Xanthine Metabolic Changes in Tamoxifen Resistant Breast Cancer Cell Lines are Mediated by Down-Regulation of GSS and XDH and Correlated to Poor Prognosis

“…Metabolomics is an advanced analytical approach used to profile the complete set of metabolites, such as small molecule products or intermediates of biochemical processes inside cells, tissues, organs, systems, or organisms 19 . It is one of the four branches of omics sciences alongside genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics that altogether aim to comprehensively investigate cellular components at different levels 20 . In this study, the metabolomic profiles of three tamoxifen-resistant MCF-7 cell lines were characterized using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.…”

Status of Omics Research Capacity on Oral Cancer in Africa: A Systematic Scoping Review Protocol

“…Science has evolved from looking through cellular biology to omics of diseases. Omics focuses on the combined description of biological molecules that account for the structure, function, and specifics of an organism [1]. The main principle driving omics methods is that a complicated organism can be understood better if studied as a whole [2].…”