Transcriptomics: advances and approaches.

Transcriptomics is one of the most developed fields in the post-genomic era. Transcriptome is the complete set of RNA transcripts in a specific cell type or tissue at a certain developmental stage and/or under a specific physiological condition, including messenger RNA, transfer RNA, ribosomal RNA, and other non-coding RNAs. Transcriptomics focuses on the gene expression at the RNA level and offers the genome-wide information of gene structure and gene function in order to reveal the molecular mechanisms involved in specific biological processes. With the development of next-generation high-throughput sequencing technology, transcriptome analysis has been progressively improving our understanding of RNA-based gene regulatory network. Here, we discuss the concept, history, and especially the recent advances in this inspiring field of study.