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What is metabolomics?
What is metabolomics?
- Metabolomics is the study of small molecules (defined generally by molecular weight less than 1500 Daltons) in biological samples, including lipids.
- The metabolome includes hundreds of classes of small molecules, with new classes still being discovered regularly.
- Targeted metabolomics refers to the analysis of a defined subset of molecules, whereas non-targeted metabolomics (also known as global metabolomics or metabolomic profiling) refers to the analysis of all detectable small molecules.
- The two primary metabolomic workflows involve: i) measuring total metabolite levels (abundance); and ii) isotope tracing, in which stable isotope-labeled metabolites can be used to track the flow of atoms in metabolism.
- The most common biological matrices in which we measure metabolites are: cells, media, plasma, whole blood, red blood cells, urine, and tissues. But even more complex matrices (e.g., bone) can be analyzed.
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