Biomarkers are key molecular events that link a specific pathophysiology, environmental exposure, or disease to health outcome. Biomarkers can be proteins, lipids, metabolic enzymes or other such biomolecules. The omics technologies (genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics) have provided the right platform for biomarkers discovery research. Recently, developed and emerging proteomics technologies have significant potential implications for human and ecological risk assessment issues. The use of proteomics is gaining importance in industry for biomarkers and drug discovery and as an application in clinical diagnosis by monitoring pattern of protein changes or protein expression signatures. Numerous genomic, proteomic, and phosphoproteomic studies have focused on discovering gene expression signatures and protein signaling pathways associated with exposure diseases.
Biomarkers have become valuable tools for environmental monitoring as well as for evaluation of ecorestoration
programmes in large aquatic ecosystems. Even though many biomarkers are currently under
use, there is the need to develop biomarkers that are suitable for monitoring the tropical
aquatic ecosystems. Data generated from genomics,
transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, population genetics, histopathology and ecology can be
linked together through bioinformatics to generate a landscape of events occurring within a given
organism from source of stressors through exposure and ultimately, to outcomes. Proteomics technologies can also be helpful for identification of novel
proteins/biomolecules in aquatic organisms with pharmacological and therapeutic importance as these
organisms inhabiting the various aquatic habitats under pollution stress must be utilizing some
mechanisms for production of defense proteins and other biomolecules for their survival.
