Blog | Metabolon

Metabolomics: A Key to Realizing the Power of ‘Big Data’

Sep 28, 2019, 5:30 AM

Big data initiatives to understand individual health, disease, and therapeutic responses are underway using a wide range of 'omics and clinical assessment tools across a variety of large cohorts in population health studies.

Q&A: Approach to frailty population health study with Brent Richards, M.D., M.Sc., Faculty of Medicine at McGill University

Sep 16, 2019, 6:14 AM

We sat down with Brent Richards, M.D., M.Sc., from the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University, to discuss the Canadian population health collaborative study that is aimed at discovering key frailty biomarkers to shed light on why some people become frail, determine the severity of frailty and what can be done to help avoid the condition.

The skin microbiome: how metabolomics can advance the next frontier in skin health

Aug 26, 2019, 5:48 AM

What about the microbiome of other body locations, particularly our largest organ – the skin?

There is Truth to the Adage “Get Your Beauty Rest”

Aug 6, 2019, 11:41 AM

The fountain of youth is what most people desire as they begin to notice faint lines of wisdom. Factors from a person’s biology or genetics to their environment and lifestyle, including sleep habits, alter metabolite levels affecting the health and appearance of skin. These mechanisms lead to the aging process long before we see the impact on our skin.

Obesity – A Massive Problem Impacted by Tiny Things

Jul 22, 2019, 11:25 AM

The prevalence of obesity has increased at a breathtaking rate over the last few decades, with nearly half of the global population estimated to be overweight. This staggering ratio represents a tremendous disease burden since obesity is a major risk factor for many comorbidities, such as cardiovascular disease, fatty liver, and type 2 diabetes. Challenging solutions to address the rise in obesity are complex and not readily isolated to a small collection of genes.

Charting a Path to Chronotherapy: An Atlas of Circadian Metabolism

Oct 23, 2018, 3:04 PM

A circadian rhythm is any biological process driven by endogenous cellular clocks that follows an oscillation of about 24 hours. Disruptions in circadian rhythms resulting from our modern lifestyle are associated with familiar afflictions ranging from jet lag to mood and sleep disorders.

Metabolomics Approaches for NASH and NAFLD R&D

Sep 10, 2018, 8:11 AM

Metabolomics gives us valuable methods to compare preclinical model trials to human models of NASH. In this post, we share a case study with Gilead Sciences. More study is needed, but metabolomics may one day prove to outperform more invasive methods of assessing liver fibrosis, revealing opportunities to incorporate metabolomics into diagnostic tools.

The Road Less Traveled: The Faster Path to Biological Insights

Jul 9, 2018, 10:30 AM

Researchers continue to mine the genome for clues that assist in understanding susceptibility to disease, selection of targets for combating disease, and the biomarkers indicating response. Surprisingly, though, a fast and valuable source of data that can either lead or strengthen this pursuit is not always part of the equation.

Research shows that acetaminophen has unexpected effects on regulation of sex hormones

Apr 16, 2018, 10:00 AM

A new study showed the potentially negative impact of the widely used, over-the-counter drug acetaminophen (paracetamol) on sex hormones, which has significant implications for reproductive health. It also highlights the power of genomic and metabolomic profiling to better understand drug mechanisms of action and metabolism even in common drugs such as acetaminophen.

Why do some people respond to cancer therapy while others do not?

Feb 28, 2018, 8:00 AM

Why do some people respond to a cancer therapy and some do not? While cancer is a genetic disease, response to therapy is not as systematic or clear-cut as simply matching a mutation to treatment. Other factors are clearly involved. Recent work in both mice and humans suggests that one answer may involve the microbiome.

PART 3 | A case study in metabolomics for inherited metabolic disorders - GLUT1 Deficiency Syndrome

Jan 8, 2018, 9:20 AM

In this final blog post of our 3-part series on clinical metabolomics, we summarize a recent paper that highlights how metabolomics can be used to identify novel metabolic abnormalities and potential biomarkers associated with an inherited metabolic disorder called GLUT 1 deficiency syndrome (GLUT1-DS). The study is the first to investigate metabolomics perturbation in GLUT1-DS patients, as well as treatment of the disorder with a ketogenic diet (KD), which is currently the only treatment available.

Part 2 | Improving Rare Disease Detection with Clinical Metabolomics

Dec 18, 2017, 10:05 AM

In this second part of our 3-part series on clinical metabolomics and its applications, we discuss how rare diseases, namely inherited metabolic disorders, can be screened using the technology.

PART 1 | Clinical metabolomics is just like basic research metabolomics – right?

Nov 30, 2017, 2:45 AM

We’re kicking off a 3-part series of blog posts to help explain what clinical metabolomics is, why it’s important and how it’s being applied in rare diseases, especially inherited metabolic disorders.

Does Population Health Hold Answers for Precision Medicine?

Oct 13, 2017, 7:00 AM

We live in a time of unprecedented good health in the western world – researchers, healthcare professionals, clinicians are all working together to help decrease illness, prevent disease, increase life span and improve quality of life. In the US, for example, the average lifespan for a man in 1950 was 65 years of age. By 2007, that number jumped to 75 years of age, and it is expected to continue increasing, which means a growing and aging population for many developed countries around the world.

Putting the ‘Gee!’ into the Genome: Metabolomics & Human Genomics Studies

Aug 21, 2017, 9:55 AM

You might think the title of this article is a little silly, but there is a good reason for excitement thanks to new insights from some recent studies that combined the power of genomics and metabolomics. What wows me is that when you couple information on genotype and molecular phenotype (aka metabolomics), you really get something special, not just for research but also for the clinic.

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