Role of Metabolomics in Personalized Medicine

Abstract

The human metabolome is best understood by analogy to the human genome, i.e. where the human genome is the set of all genes in a human, the human metabolome is the set of all metabolites in a human. In a systems biology approach, metabolomics provides a functional readout of changes determined by genetic blueprint, regulation, protein abundance and modification, and environmental influence. Metabolomics is the study of the small molecules, or metabolites, contained in a human cell, tissue or organ (including fluids) and involved in primary and intermediary metabolism. By definition, the metabolome should exclude enzymes, genetic material and structural molecules such as glycosaminoglycans, and other polymeric units that are degraded to small molecules but do not otherwise participate in metabolic reactions.