The large-scale study of proteins, particularly their structures and functions within living organisms. A branch of molecular biology that analyzes the entire set of proteins produced by an organism.
Coined in the 1990s by combining 'protein' (from Greek proteios, meaning primary or first rank) with the suffix '-omics' (indicating a field of study). This term emerged as scientists sought to understand the complete protein complement of genomes.
Proteomics represents the next frontier after genomics—while we can read the genetic 'blueprint,' proteins are the actual workers that carry out cellular functions. Remarkably, humans have about 20,000 genes but potentially millions of different proteins due to complex processing and modifications.
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