metabolomics
n.— «Chemical reactions in a biological system result in a number of intermediate molecules known as metabolites. Studying the nature of these metabolites can shed light on the functioning of the entire cellular system. The pursuit of this information has been variously described as metabolite profiling, metabolomics, and metabolomics. At this time, the use of these neologisms is still flexible, allowing for a great deal of overlap in their meaning, but in general, metabolite profiling is a study more likely to be found in the context of pharmaceutical research, whereas metabolomics is the domain of systems biologists and metabonomics more of an environmental or ecological pursuit.» —“Mass Spec and Metabolomics Are a Powerful Combination” by Catherine Shaffer Genomics & Proteomics (Morris Plains, N.J.) Aug. 17, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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