Whole-Genome Profiling

Whole-genome profiling refers to the genetic fingerprinting or genotyping of an individual. The genetic differences between individuals within a species is the source of their diversity. These genetic differences are identified by molecular markers, and result in the various phenotypes or physical differences between individuals.

At present, whole-genome profiling finds application primarily in biomedicine. The interest in such work has been fuelled by the identification of genetic factors contributing to increased risk of disease and the promise of personalised medicine. While the investment in this area of biomedicine is huge, there are voices questioning the validity of its underlying assumptions and the clarity about the path to marketing its applications.

Applications of whole-genome profiling in crop improvement should have a better chance to generate environmental and social benefits, yet to date there are few examples of such efforts. Low throughput and high costs limit the suitability of current marker systems for genome profiling applications in breeding programs, which are frequently suffering from underinvestment.

Diversity Arrays Technology is a novel whole-genome profiling method that has proven to be very attractive to breeders due to its low cost and high throughput, as well as its ability to generate reproducible molecular markers with no prior DNA sequence information.

Read more about the use of molecular markers in breeding.

Read more about the benefits of whole-genome profiling.