Metabonomics

摘要

The idea that changes in tissues and biological fluids are indicative of disease goes back at least as far as ancient Greece. Diagnostic 'urine charts' were widely used from the Middle Ages onwards (Fig. 1). These charts linked the colours, smells and tastes of urine to various medical conditions. Such features are, of course, metabolic in origin. Metabonomics, and the related field of metabolomics, uses modern techniques to analyse samples, but the basic principle of relating chemical patterns to biology is the same.