Omic Technology

The suffix –ome is one of the most modern suffixes used in the English language. The first use of this suffix was registered in the 1990s and it was applied to various terms connected with biology. Modern omics technologies investigate a wide range of biological issues such as different biological systems and the processes within them. Subsequently, omics technologies are also divided into various branches of study that are aimed at the investigation of danger of particular issues for living organisms. This wide range of studies includes the investigation of the environment, various diseases, and their contributing factors as well as those sciences that contribute to the comprehension of biomining organisms. Finally, omics technologies are successfully employed in the food study with the help of such techniques as transcriptomics, metabolomics, and proteomics. These methods of research help estimate the danger of various toxins found in food and feed systems for any living organism. As a result, omics technologies have been successfully applied to the food science, thus helping protect living organisms from toxins.    

Definitions and Explanations

The term ‘omics technologies’ is a quite modern and rather complicated because it absorbs a wide range of different sciences. The suffix –ome is defined in the Oxford English dictionary as a special unit, used for the creation of various nouns and applied in the terminology of molecular and cellular biology (Horgan & Kenny, 2011). This dictionary also claims that all constitutes are considered collectively in these biological sciences (Horgan & Kenny, 2011). This suffix was firstly used only at the beginning of the 1990s, where it was employed to describe such terms as genome and biome (Horgan & Kenny, 2011). However, the usage -ome has been significantly increased over the last few decades because of the accelerated development of technologies that consider biological samples at system level. Additionally, the term of omics has also been developed since the 2000s when the human genome was decoded (Horgan & Kenny, 2011). Since these times, the term of omics has permanently broadened its horizons of use and it has been launched into different systems of biology. Therefore, omics technologies do not have a long history of existence, but they consist of a great number of biological studies.

Omics technologies consider the molecules of various organisms, tissues, and cells, and they are divided into several sciences. For instance, metabolites (metabolomics), proteins (proteomics), mRNA (transcriptomics), and genes (genomics) in a particular biological sample in non-biased and non-targeted manner are the major goals of detection of this science (Boygo & Rudd, 2013). Furthermore, this science is often considered by researchers as high-dimensional biology, while the absorption of these methods can be defined as the biology of systems. For example, the main concept of this system is that the consideration of an object as a whole contributes to a better and more accurate understanding of what the system is (Boygo & Rudd, 2013). Nevertheless, reductionist, or hypothesis-driven traditional studies, are significantly distinguished from the methods of investigation, used in omics and the biology of systems. At the same time, omics technologies analyze and acquire information, needed for the determination of a hypothesis that can be checked in additional ways, while the hypothesis is not known or stated anywhere (Boygo & Rudd, 2013). Finally, some major omics use drastically different methods in comparison with traditional sciences.

Moreover, a wide range of different branches of study that successfully applies omics technologies and creates a great potential for their development. For example, such technologies are used in order to define the nature of some diseases and help project, discover, and screen various illnesses by applying them to the process of a disease as well as to the physiological one (Boygo & Rudd, 2013). When several molecules are investigated simultaneously, scientists look for biomarkers (Boygo & Rudd, 2013). Furthermore, omics technologies are also successfully used by researchers to estimate the effectiveness and toxicity of drugs. For example, a science known as pharmacogenomics is rather important for oncology because the therapy of cancer usually has unpredictable efficiency and high toxicity (Boygo & Rudd, 2013). Hence, omics technologies are one of the most useful and well-developing strategies of investigation in the modern biology.

Techniques Used in Omics Analysis

Omics technologies have a wide range of applied techniques that depend on the branch of study, with which it works at some particular moment of time. For example, these technologies can be applied in the environmental studies since they are also used during investigations in the spheres of healthcare and ecological toxicology. Furthermore, ecological omics technologies use almost all opportunities, suggested by the general understanding of these technologies such as metabolomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, and genomics (Ge et al., 2013). Moreover, this wide range of omics technologies is aimed at a better understanding of genetic factors and of the environment, the mechanisms of toxicity, and the types of responses in the cases of chronic and acute exposures (Ge et al., 2013). Additionally, modern scientists plan to research the diseases, caused by all environmental factors described above, with the help of omics technologies (Ge et al., 2013). As a result, various techniques, such as metabolomics and proteomics, are applied to the environment in order to investigate the toxicity of a great number of chemical elements as well as their connections and impact on human health.

Furthermore, omics technologies will obviously help modern investigators identify the nature of chronic and acute disease as well as develop new biomarkers for use in medical practice and theory. Thus, proteomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, and genomics are the major studies that investigate benzene and arsenic in order to estimate their impact on people’s health and to associate them with already identified biomarkers (Bradburne et al., 2015). Moreover, omics technologies also research the health conditions of people who work on their projects in order to describe the influence of various substances that they are subjected to during their work. For instance, lead, metal oxides, mercury, pesticides, herbicides, and jet fuel are the most important stressful factors, researched by these technologies (Bradburne et al., 2015). Hence, epigenomics and genomics are only some of the techniques, launched by the researchers of omics technologies who use them in order to understand the nature of various diseases and to create new biomarkers needed for medicine.

Additionally, several major techniques of omics technologies used by scientists for the global understanding of biomining organisms. For example, such technologies help researchers identify that the parts of ore bioleaching consortium are isolated acidophilic microorganisms (Jerez, 2008). The technologies under discussion are already superior to the classical methods of genetic procedures that only allow searching bacteria with the best measurements and features in natural conditions. For example, omics technologies can help scientists prove experimentally projected or forecasted function of a produced gene (Jerez, 2008). Furthermore, they can generate special mutations within the investigated genes in order to prove their functions and properties (Jerez, 2008). Additionally, these technologies investigate the behavior of a wide range of microorganisms and genes under the impact of different external factors such as extreme temperatures of 60 °C and the reactions between them chemical elements such as sulfur and iron (Jerez, 2008). Finally, scientists use omics technologies to conduct a series of experiments such as the investigation of behavioral microorganisms in the case of influence of unnatural factors in the analysis of biomining organisms.

Example Application in Food

Omics technologies are considered by scientists as one of the best and the most useful examples of innovations that will help estimate the risks of food, although it is not obvious how much they will help. For example, these technologies have a high level of sensitivity, but scientists are concerned about it being too high during the processes of the estimation of risks (Whitworth, 2013). Further, omics technologies, such as epidemiology and genomics, can be used to determine microbiological dangers beforehand. For instance, the processes of detection and analysis of such pathogens as genetic diversity, resistance genes, and virulence factors will help scientists reduce risks of food products for the public health (Whitworth, 2013). Nevertheless, microbiological omics cannot easily estimate the risks because of lack of data about the collaboration of changes of pathogens and their owner (Whitworth, 2013). However, the most successful and the most developed omics technology, applied to the determination of the safety of various foods, is transcriptomics (Whitworth, 2013). As a result, the newest technologies are quite useful for the processes, connected with the analysis and estimation of risks that certain foods bring it to the public health.

One of the most common methods of omics technologies, applied to the determination of feed and food safety and that also is aimed at the definition of danger, is transcriptomics. This science says that the actions of toxicants within the cells of vitroor animals are much more dangerous for them than the actual levels of exposure (Pielaat et al., 2013). Although these researches are useful for the identification of the ways of actions of these toxins, they do not help estimate the risks. However, eventually, the examples of investigations of transcriptomics aimed at assessment of risks were published. These investigations analyzed the organs-aims of carcinogenic compounds of treated rats in order to define the transcriptional changes of microarrays as well as organ and traditional histological weight changes (Pielaat et al., 2013). Furthermore, after the investigation finished, researchers found that scientists could determine cancer and non-cancer departure points for the transcriptional and the traditional changes (Pielaat et al., 2013). Finally, the researchers claimed that the benchmark dose for traditional changes did not significantly differ from the doses of transcriptional parameters (Pielaat et al., 2013). Notwithstanding, investigators understood that omics technologies could help determine transcriptional changes seemingly earlier (approximately from the 5^th day of the beginning of the experiment) than in the cases of traditional analysis (nearly 2 years) (Pielaat et al., 2013). Hence, transcriptomics is much more effective in the processes of determination of various toxins within living organisms than traditional methods.

Additionally, proteomics and metabolomics are among the most important omics technologies that usually complement the study of transcriptomics. For example, projected goals of toxicants will be defined with the help of metabolomics that will also assist in gathering information about targeted organs, action models, and the effects of endocrine using the example of steroid hormone synthesis (Pielaat et al., 2013). On the contrary, phosphorylation of proteins, protein levels, and modes for toxicant actions can be easily determined with the help of proteomics (Pielaat et al., 2013). Finally, although transcriptomics significantly help with the determination of various toxins in living organisms, metabolomics and proteomics are other methods of omics that help transcriptomics expand the knowledge about a particular toxin.

Conclusion

Omics technologies are quite innovative since they came in use only at the end of the 20^th century. The processes within various biological systems and their interactions with the surrounding world can be analyzed and estimated with the help of these technologies. Moreover, a great number of techniques within the omics technologies, such as metabolomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, and genomics, research various risks for living organisms. Nevertheless, proteomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics are the most important and the most successful methods of omics technologies, used in the food industry. Together, they are able to help scientists to understand the nature of different toxins and to project their danger for living organisms. Hence, omics technologies are extremely important for safety of all living organisms, which, in turn, makes these technologies one of the most useful improvements of the modern age.