The Recent Applications and Developments of Bioinformatics and Omics Technologies in Traditional Chinese Medicine

摘要

Background: Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is widely utilized as complementaryhealth care in China whose acceptance is still hindered by conventional scientific researchmethodology, although it has been exercised and implemented for nearly 2000 years. Identifyingthe molecular mechanisms, targets and bioactive components in TCM is a critical step in themodernization of TCM because of the complexity and uniqueness of the TCM system. With recentadvances in computational approaches and high throughput technologies, it has become possible tounderstand the potential TCM mechanisms at the molecular and systematic level, to evaluate theeffectiveness and toxicity of TCM treatments. Bioinformatics is gaining considerable attention tounearth the in-depth molecular mechanisms of TCM, which emerges as an interdisciplinaryapproach owing to the explosive omics data and development of computer science. Systemsbiology, based on the omics techniques, opens up a new perspective which enables us toinvestigate the holistic modulation effect on the body.Objective: This review aims to sum up the recent efforts of bioinformatics and omics techniques inthe research of TCM including Systems biology, Metabolomics, Proteomics, Genomics andTranscriptomics.Conclusion: Overall, bioinformatics tools combined with omics techniques have been extensivelyused to scientifically support the ancient practice of TCM to be scientific and international throughthe acquisition, storage and analysis of biomedical data.