Metabolomics : The frontier of systems biology
Metabolism is the sum of the chemical reactions in cells that produce life-sustaining chemical energy and metabolites. In the post-genome era, metabolism has taken on new significance for biological scientists: metabolites are the chemical basis of phenotypes that are final expressions of genomic information. This book covers research on metabolomics, ranging from the development of specialized chemical analytical techniques to the construction of databases and methods for metabolic simulation. The authors have been directly involved in the development of all the subject areas, including capillary electrophoresis, liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, metabolic databases, and metabolic simulation. Breakthrough achievements and the future of metabolome studies are described, making this book a valuable source for researchers in metabolomics in diverse fields, such as plant, animal, cellular, microbial, pharmaceutical, medical, and genetic sciences.
Metabolome Analyses : Strategies for Systems Biology
Metabolome Analyses is intended as a follow-up to Metabolic Profiling: Its Role in Biomarker Discovery and Gene Function Analysis (Kluwer, 2003). That text offered guidelines to currently available technology, bioinformatics and databases. Evidence was presented showing metabolic profiling as a valuable addition to genomics and proteomics strategies devoted to drug discovery and development. This book focuses on how metabolic profiling is being more comprehensively integrated with the other "omics" technologies. It provides more practical applications of such "panomics" or "Systems Biology" approaches. The expanding use of mass spectrometry as a measurement technology in metabolic profiling is addressed through demonstrated applications. The integration of metabolic profiling and proteomics is probably most developed for plant-based studies, which was not addressed in Volume 1. Other areas related to metabolic profiling continue to show significant development. These include database strategies and an increased acceptance by the pharmaceutical industry of metabolic profiling. Also covered is the use of in silico metabolic networks. Again the focus is primarily on the pharmaceutical industry but the importance of metabolic profiling to studies on human nutrition (a burgeoning area) is discussed.

