Proteomics: a technology-driven and technology-limited discovery science

An emerging field for the analysis of biological systems is the study of the complete protein complement of the genome, the ‘proteome’. There are several complementary tools available for proteome analysis including 2D protein electrophoresis and mass spectrometry. Emerging technologies for proteome analysis include spotted-array-based methods and microfluidic devices. Taken together, these technologies provide a wealth of information that is useful in discovery-based science. However, there are some key limitations of these approaches and new technology is required to be able to fully integrate proteomic information with information obtained about DNA sequence, mRNA profiles and metabolite concentrations into effective models of biological systems.