The Human Metabolome

Abstract

The human metabolome is best understood by analogy to the human genome, i.e. where the human genome is the set of all genes in a human, the human metabolome is the set of all metabolites in a human. Whereas the science of genomics is based upon a genome, the science of metabolomics is grounded in a metabolome. To continue the genome/metabolome analogy, it should be apparent that any published human genome is a statistical approximation as it is derived from a limited number of individuals, and that ultimately any individual has a unique genome. Similarly, the human metabolome is a statistical approximation of the total human metabolic potential. Furthermore, just as the human genome is differentiable from other genomes, for instance, the Xenopus or Caenothus genomes, there is a human metabolome that defines the human biochemical potential that is different from that of Xenopus or Caenothus. While the vitamins and essential amino acids are the most obvious unique characteristics of the human metabolome they are not, by any means, the only defining features. By its definition, the metabolome is the comprehensive set of all potential metabolites that can be expressed in any human under all conditions, the high-water mark of human biochemical potential.