Role of Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics in Cancer Research

The current era is known as the genomic era thanks to the successful completion of Human Genome Project. It opened gates for a number of biomedical researches and threw light into a lot of unanswered questions related to biomedical research. Owing to this the last decade has witnessed an immense growth in knowledge, bringing genetics to a fore-front position in healthcare. This in turn has helped in the understanding of a number of diseases including cancer, their development and progression with better diagnostic and treatment options. Cytogenetics research earlier had successfully explained the chromosomal aberrations that are linked to cancer development and progression but with the advent of molecular techniques post genomic era more and more clarity regarding cancer development began. Thus the two major areas of genetics that now complements each other and has been widely explored in cancer research are Cytogenetics and Molecular genetics. Both the fields of study are crucial in understanding the genetic diseases, therapy, diagnosis and evolution. Molecular genetics is the study of chromosomes and DNA at the molecular level using DNA technology whereas Cytogenetics is the study of structure and number of chromosomes using microscopic analysis. Molecular genetics studies segments of DNA, genes at the molecular level whereas Cytogenetics is the study of how chromosomes relate to the behaviour of cells during the cell division process and it includes the microscopic examination of chromosomal abnormalities; for instance, a decrease or an increase in the chromosomal number or translocation of one to another chromosome. Advances now focus on molecular cytogenetics including standard Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) preparations, Spectral Karyotyping and techniques for virtual karyotyping, such as comparative genomic hybridization arrays (CGH), and microarrays. These advanced techniques have been instrumental in providing deeper insights into the rol