Genomic Convergence - Recent and Future Applications

Recent and Future Applications

Genomic convergence has a countless number of creative applications that combine the strengths of different analyses and studies. Maher Noureddine et al., note in their 2005 paper, “One of the growing problems in the study of complex diseases is how to prioritize research and make sense of the immense amount of data now readily available at the click of a computer mouse...The best approach may be to take advantage of the strengths of both…SAGE …and microarrays”.

The results of combining methods of analysis have continued to be promising. Sofia Oliveira et al. (2005) combined gene expression, linkage data, and “iterative association mapping” to identify several genes associated with PD AAO.

Future studies will continue to apply genomic convergence to elucidate the etiology of complex diseases. Dr. Jeff Vance, Director of the Morris K. Udall PD Research Center of Excellence, notes, “Genomic convergence is really no different from mathematical convergence – the more angles from which you can come at a problem, the better chance you have of solving it”.