Workshop: Comparative Functional Genomics: A Short Course, Salisbury Cove, Maine, August 27 to September 9, 2000

生物科学正在进入一个令人兴奋的新时代：能够测量生物体中所有基因的基因表达模式。这种方法被称为功能基因组学，它寻求识别有趣的基因表达模式：影响有机体如何形成、如何应对环境挑战以及如何适应的模式。这一领域的主要进展之一是使用微阵列同时测量数千个基因的表达。微阵列是打印在一张小玻璃片上的数千个微格式化的DNA样本。每个DNA斑点代表一个独特的基因，用于测量基因表达。研究基因表达的模式只是第一步。还需要进一步的研究来确定基因表达的变化如何导致生理、形态或其他表型的变化。如果我们试图理解基因表达模式如何影响生物体生物学的功能重要性，更有成效的方法之一是遵循奥古斯特·克罗原理(奥古斯特·克罗1929)：对于许多问题，将会有一种动物可以最方便地进行研究。因此，功能基因组学将通过研究易于研究生理、发育或生化特征的各种生物而得到加强。不幸的是，许多生物学家认为，功能基因组学方法超出了他们的能力范围：他们获得必要的分子工具(例如，在组织中表达的所有或大多数cDNA)的能力，或者获得这些工具的资金。这与事实相去甚远，这也是开设比较功能基因组学短期课程的原因。这门课程的参与者将制作数千个测序和识别的cDNA，其中许多cDNA的微阵列，以及对基因表达的简单分析。尽管这还不是一个完整的生物体微阵列，但它确实代表着朝着完成功能基因组学的基本工具之一迈出了一大步：生产、打印和分析许多表达的基因。这门课程最重要的特点是，它将提供关于如何简单而廉价地从任何生物体中生产出功能基因组学所需的分子工具的知识。比较功能基因组学课程的这些目标将加快功能基因组学在非模式物种中的应用，从而增强我们对基因表达变异如何影响生物过程的理解。

Biological sciences are entering an exciting new era: the ability to measure patterns of gene expression for all the genes in an organism. This approach is known as functional genomics, and it seeks identifying interesting patterns of gene expression: patterns that influence how an organism is formed, how it deals with environmental challenges, and how it adapts. One of the major advances in this field is the use of MICROARRAYS to measure the expression of thousands of genes simultaneously. Microarrays are thousands of micro-formatted DNA samples printed on a small glass slide. Each DNA spot represents a unique gene that is used to measure gene expression. Examining the patterns of gene expression is just the first step. Additional research will be required to determine how changes in gene expression cause physiological, morphological or other phenotypic change. If we are seeking to understand the functional importance of how patterns of gene expression affects the biology of organisms, one of the more productive approaches is to follow August Krogh's principle (Krogh 1929): for many problems there will be an animal for which it can be most conveniently studied. Thus, functional genomics will be enhanced by examining a diversity of organisms in which physiological, developmental or biochemical traits are readily studied. Unfortunately, many biologists believe that a functional genomics approach is beyond their reach: their ability to acquire the necessary molecular tools (e.g., all or most cDNAs expressed in a tissue) or the funding to acquire these tools. This is far from the truth and is the reason for a short course on Comparative Functional Genomics. Participants in this course will produce 1000s of sequenced and identified cDNAs, microarray of many of these cDNAs and a simple analysis of gene expression. Although this is not a completed microarray for their organism, it does represent a large step toward the completion of one of the fundamental tools for functional genomics: the production, printing, and analysis of many expressed genes. The most important attribute of this course is that it will provide the knowledge on how to produce the necessary molecular tools for functional genomics from any organism simply and inexpensively. These objectives of the Comparative Functional Genomic course will accelerate the utilization of functional genomics among non-model species and thus enhance our understanding of how the variation in gene expression affects biological processes.