Genomics is the study of the genomes of organisms. Its main goal is to determine the partial or entire sequence of DNA by a single gene amplification through Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) or through large-scale genes sequencing by Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). Since the final product of a gene is often a protein, the knowledge of the DNA sequence has become of vital importance in medicine and biotechnology, unraveling the bases of some diseases through specific mutations. Besides, evolutionary genomics which combined experimental work and bioinformatic tools, is currently an important part of biological research in genomics field, allowing the phylogenetical reconstruction of gene families given insight into the natural history of life.

Proteomics, along with genomics, is nowadays an indispensable research tool in Biological and Environmental sciences. The evolution of the technology, namely at the level of mass spectrometry is allowing nowadays the access to quantitative information from hundreds of proteins, which has been using to interpret relevant metabolic and physiological responses in organisms, which conventional biochemical methods cannot provide. CIIMAR has been using various proteomics strategies in the field of toxicology, namely to understand and characterize the mode of action of environmental contaminants in aquatic organisms. Moreover, proteomics has been used to identify and characterize unique metabolic and physiological properties of marine invertebrates. In concrete CIIMAR has experience and provides for the scientific community the following proteomic analysis: SDS-PAGE; -DE; Blue-native PAGE; label-free quantitative proteomics; shotgun proteomics.

To date, the continuous increasing of sequences from non-model organisms in public databases (whole genomes, transcriptomes and proteomes), have boosted in-depth proteogenomic studies, describing thousands of new genes and proteins given insights about complex processes in diverse metabolic pathways.