Chapter 5 - A complementary approach: Metabolomics

Abstract

This chapter presents a brief overview of metabolomics, the history of its development, principles, and applications. The differences between targeted and untargeted metabolomics are explained, and the advantages and limitations of both approaches are discussed. The chapter is written with the clinical researcher in mind; thus the emphasis is on the potential utility of metabolomics to assist in the diagnosis and understanding of pathogenesis. At the moment, the application of untargeted metabolomics to undiagnosed patients is not likely to be productive given the current knowledge base.