?metabolomics: the final frontier

the connection between genomics, proteomics and metabolomics is evident in even the most simplistic of scientific models. genes give rise to mrna. proteins are translated from mrna and then proceed to carry out a myriad of functions within the cell, including the metabolism of small molecules such as glucose and adenosine triphosphate. not that many years ago, scientists used to study the ‘big 4’ biomolecules under the guise of genes,transcripts, protein and metabolites. the last decade of biomedical research, however, has been witness to the growth of the ‘omics’ industries. genomics, trans criptomics and proteomics have become core technologies within almost every major academic or industrialresearch program around the world. what was missing was the final piece of the omics puzzle: metabolomics.