Perhaps more important from the standpoint of behavioural
ecology, lists of genes that are differentially expressed across
behavioural states can be grouped into molecular functions and
biological processes that provide higher-level information on putative
regulators of behaviour . Like candidate genes, ‘candidate
processes’ (e.g. hormone or neurotransmitter production and
signalling) can be manipulated. In addition, techniques that target
candidate processes are often broadly applicable and may not
require as much method development as techniques targeting
single genes.