Many well-known tests have been identified based on biological insight from the fields of physiology or biochemistry; therefore, only a few markers at a time have been considered.
The recent interest in biomarker discovery is spurred by new molecular biologic techniques, which promise to find relevant markers rapidly without detailed insight into the mechanisms of a disease.
The identification of clinically significant protein biomarkers of phenotype and biological function is an expanding area of research which will extend diagnostic capabilities.
[3] The epigenetic clock which measures the age of cells/tissues/organs based on DNA methylation levels is arguably the most accurate genomic biomarker.
Using biomarkers from easily assessable biofluids (e.g. blood and urine) is beneficial in evaluating the state of harder-to-reach tissues and organs.
[8] Proteomic methods are an effective tool for analysis of biomarkers with advantages including fast and accurate screening for diseases in, for example, blood serum.
Common proteomic techniques for biomarkers includes:[9] The term metabolomic has been recently introduced to address the global analysis of all metabolites in a biological sample.
Metabonomics has become a major area of research; it is the complex system biological study, used as a method to identify the biomarker for various disease.
Mass spectrometry was used to delineate the relative concentration and composition of high-density lipoproteins (HDL) particles from lipid extracts isolated from coronary bypass patients and healthy volunteers.
In addition, overwhelming data supports the relevance of glycosylation in pathogen recognition, inflammation, innate immune responses, and the development of autoimmune diseases and cancer.
[10] Ex vivo blood stimulation is the process by which researchers can analyse the immunological biomarkers of drug effects in healthy volunteers.