Genetics is the study of heritable variation; how variations in single genes interact with each other and their environment to influence the development or physiology of an organism. Genomics is the study of the entire complement of genes at once, and can take advantage of high throughput methods and information-rich datasets to identify patterns of gene activity without the constraint of prior assumptions. Both approaches allow comparatively unbiased approaches to understanding cell biology in intact organisms.
CMM faculty are using Genetic and Genomic approaches to understand key aspects of cell biology in human subjects, experimental animals and cultured cells. Technologies for genome-wide location of DNA binding proteins developed within the Department (Fu, Ren) have been highly successful and widely adopted. CMM faculty are also engaged in teaching Genetics and Genomics to the next generation of scientists through the UCSD Genetics Training Program (directed by Bruce Hamilton).