Welcome to the world of metabolomics, where Aalim Weljie and Hans Vogel in the Department of Biological Sciences have been leading a group of researchers in this experimental technique for six years.
“We measure concentrations of naturally occurring small molecules (called metabolites) that are present in blood, urine and tissues,” says Weljie. “We’re looking for a pattern, or fingerprint, in the biological sample that can be used to learn about the ‘health’ of the organism.”
Metabolomics is highly interdisciplinary and is becoming widely used in biology, medicine and the environmental sciences for studying living organisms.
Weljie has parlayed his biochemistry background into helping unlock the secret around one of the most pervasive and worrisome human afflictions—cancer.
via Metabolic patterns could unlock cancer | Fall 2011 | U Magazine.
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