UPSC Prelims 2016 Question:

In the context of the developments in Bioinformatics, the term ‘transcriptome’, sometimes seen in the news, refers to

Explanation: 

• The human genome is made up of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid).  For the instructions to be carried out, DNA must be "read" and transcribed - in other words, copied - into RNA (ribonucleic acid). These gene readouts are called transcripts, and a transcriptome is a collection of all the gene readouts present in a cell.
  
  

• There are various kinds of RNA. The major type, called messenger RNA (mRNA), plays a vital role in making proteins. In this process: mRNA is transcribed from genes. A transcriptome is the full range of messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules expressed by an organism. The term "transcriptome" can also be used to describe the array of mRNA transcripts produced in a particular cell or tissue type.
  
  

Therefore, option (2) is the correct answer.

Subject: Science & Technology | Biotechnology