The Multi-Omics Hubs unite researchers who generate large data sets to understand the complex relationships between genes, environment, and life experience. Such multi-omics data are derived from diverse biological sources and include genomics, epigenomics, proteomics, metabolomics, metagenomics, and transcriptomics. The Microbiome Hub and Epigenetics Hub, both part of the Multi-Omics effort, provide linkages and integration across researchers on campus. Specifically, the Hubs aim to:
- link the use of several -omics methodologies in the same biological system;
- integrate researchers asking similar questions in systems as dissimilar as the human gut and the soil;
- link research conducted at the clinical, epidemiological, and ecological levels with mechanistic and molecular studies;
- provide avenues for collaboration among computational scientists and biologists.
The Multi-Omics Hubs are intimately linked to the Data Science Hub through the use of data management and analytics tools for acquisition and mining of multi-omics data. The intersection of various types of -omics data provides fertile ground for new biological insight, necessitating new methods for data management and analysis. Currently, the Multi-Omics effort has two major areas of emphasis: epigenetics and the microbiome. Comprehensive analyses in both areas require the acquisition of multi-omic data to understand the chemical and biological information unique to individuals and communities. The Multi-Omics Hub provides services that include epigenetic-linked analytical methods and microbiome bioinformatics resources to enable a broad community of researchers to include epigenome and microbiome assessments in their research.
