Metabolome

Metabolome refers to the complete set of small-molecule metabolites (such as metabolic intermediates, hormones and other signaling molecules, and secondary metabolites) to be found within a biological sample, such as a single organism. The word was coined in analogy with transcriptomics and proteomics as similar to the "transcriptome" and the "proteome", the metabolome is dynamic, changing from second to second. Although the metabolome can be defined readily enough, it is not currently possible to analyse the entire range of metabolites by a single analytical method (see: metabolomics). In January 2007 scientists at the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary finished a draft of the human metabolome. They have catalogued and characterized 2,500 metabolites, 1,200 drugs and 3,500 food components that can be found in the human body.