Metabolomics Perspectives: From Theory to Practical Application

Metabolomics Perspectives: From Theory to Practical Application is an expertly written volume, which provides a thorough description of the current state-of-the-art in the metabolomics field. The philosophy behind the book is to guide the reader in a step-by-step exploration of metabolomics experiments, ranging from sample preparation to data extraction, analysis and interpretation, and to discuss the main current applications and future perspectives of this emerging science. Armed with critical insights, coupled with a clear writing, the book consists of three main sections. The first one introduces the pivotal theoretical fundamentals and provides a comprehensive overview of the "wet" laboratory workflow, including protocol instructions and a detailed description of experimental methods and analytical techniques. The second section covers a wide range of topics in the context of data analysis, including guidance in exploratory analysis, supervised and unsupervised machine learning approaches and validation and optimization methods. In addition to the several examples reported in the text, the book features an R package, specifically designed to perform all the described algorithms, which is hosted on a companion website (www.metabolomicsperspectives.com) together with several sets of available metabolomic data. Finally, an extensive dissertation describes the latest advances and the major fields of interest for metabolomics applications, highlighting their crucial potentials for future biomedical research. Thus, this book represents a must-read for both experienced researchers, interested in metabolomics, and newcomers to the field.