December 2004

Tags: basics, genomics, genetics

What's the Difference?
Well, as a rule, genetics is the study of single genes in isolation. Genomics is the study of all the genes in the genome and the interactions among them and their environment(s).

Analogy 1
If genomics is like a garden, genetics is like a single plant. If the plant isn’t flowering, you could study the plant itself (genetics) or look at the surroundings to see if it is too crowded or shady (genomics) – both approaches are probably needed to find out how to make your plant blossom.

Analogy 2
If genomics is like an extended family, genetics is like one family member. A girl can study her romantic partner in detail and thinks she knows all the quirks – but she may have her eyes opened even more after seeing her partner behave at a family reunion.

A Few More Helpful Comparisons
Generally, genomics takes the wide-angle view whereas genetics takes close ups. But no matter what angle you start from, you’ll probably need to consider the other viewpoint. You can learn EVERYTHING about one gene, but eventually you’ll have to learn about its context. Likewise, you can look at the entire genome and pick up differences in various disease states but eventually, you’ll need to know details about the genes.

Disease and Information
In studying human disease, for example, genomics examines all the genetic information to determine biological markers predisposing an individual to disease, whereas genetics uses the information from one or two genes to explain a disease state.
Many diseases due to single gene defects have been identified. Now, geneticists want to tackle multifactorial diseases caused by the complex interactions between multiple genes and the environment.

Eventually, geneticists will need to include the broad approach of genomics because it’s better suited to seeing all the important contextual information.

In Conclusion...
Genomics and genetics blend into one another so it is difficult to draw a decisive dividing line between them. Both disciplines are studying DNA to unravel nature’s mysteries.
But it does help to understand the genetic concepts before you tackle the more complex genomic ideas. That’s why we’ll often explain focused genetic information on our site.