Are histochemistry and cytochemistry 'Omics'?

A plethora of new 'omics such as transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics (or metabonomics), pharmacogenomics, physiomics and cytomics are upon us, but can histochemistry be an 'omic? To be an 'omic a technique must take a 'global' and 'holistic' view of biology that addresses biological complexity head-on by synthesising multiparameter data into predictive models. Thus to be an 'omic, a histochemical technique should be as inclusive as possible in identifying as many targets as possible with equal likelihood and sensitivity of detection. Any technique capable of detecting only one or two targets is not within the spirit of an 'omic, ruling out it seems most of histochemistry. Nevertheless, new developments in high-throughput histochemistry and cytochemistry are making powerful claims to the title 'Histocytomics'. Histocytomics and all the other 'omics are components of the only real 'omic 'Biomics', that is, the integrated application of science into a coherent strategy for understanding biological complexity. In this paper, this strategy is presented for the investigation of the regulation of phenotypic change in skeletal and cardiac muscle in health and disease.