Secret Weapon: Interrogating Host-Pathogen Interactions with Precision Metabolomics

Featuring Dr. Geoffrey Feld, Sr. Study Director at Metabolon

Microbes play an undeniable, integral role in human health. While resident microbiota influence health as symbiotes to the host, pathogenic microbes disrupt metabolic homeostasis, taxing the immune system and putting the host’s life in jeopardy.

A key readout of the host-pathogen interaction is the metabolome, the small molecules produced by both host and microbial processes that represent the output of biochemical pathways. During infection, the host immune system and the pathogen engage in a molecular “arms race”, deploying metabolic tactics to gain a strategic advantage.