Genomics as a Probe for Disease Biology

Abstract

Although our understanding of pathology has grown rapidly in recent decades, the underlying mechanisms of many diseases remain obscure. Genomic research offers a new opportunity for determining how diseases occur, by taking advantage of experiments of nature and a growing array of sophisticated research tools to identify the molecular abnormalities underlying disease processes.1In this review I examine examples in which genomic research has improved our understanding of molecular pathobiology and consider its potential for contributing to the study of common complex diseases.