There’s relatively little understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the complex biological pathways and interconnected systems responsible for transplant success. Leading-edge technologies have made possible a branch of biological studies collectively referred to as “omics”. Omics include genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and transcriptomics: the large-scale study of genes, proteins, small molecules, and RNA transcripts, respectively—all of which are being widely studied in clinical research in order to gain insight into the mechanics of complex biological processes.
New technologies, such as nextgeneration sequencing, and artificial intelligence methods, such as deep learning and machine learning, are being used to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying clinical outcomes in kidney transplantation. Importantly, next-generation sequencing technologies enable rapid and broad examination of the molecular mechanisms at play in an individual from just a blood sample, which can simply be shipped out for analysis.
