Metabolomics

Our Metabolomics platform complements our other PanOmics technologies by studying the chemical processing involving metabolites, small molecules that are products or intermediates of cellular metabolism. The metabolic state is the closest to complex phenotypes and it integrates signals from other levels of the biological machinery as well as from the environment.

Metabolomics analysis are performed in order to:

1. Answer biological questions to identify biochemical pathways involved, when the system was perturbed. In other words, to understand the chemistry (the cascade of chemical reactions), which led to the current chemical content of the system
2. To identify biomarkers
3. To predict complex traits

Mass spectrometry is the core technology for the untargeted metabolomics. Combined with a GC (Gas Chromatography) or a UHPLC (Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography) devices, the measurements allow the detection and the relative quantitation of the thousands of molecules present in the system. Evotec’s laboratories are fully equipped for high-throughput comprehensive metabolomics and lipidomics using state-of-the-art high-resolution/high-mass accuracy mass spectrometry coupled with UHPLC. Our sample preparation and analytical methods are especially designed to capture a broad range of compounds, widely differing in molecular weights, polarities, structures and functionalities.  

The complexity and the amount of the generated data by our platform is such that we have developed our own algorithms and software for the data extraction, annotation and refinement to guarantee the quality of the data for further statistical analysis and modelling. Efficient and confident annotation of the content of samples is performed using our database of reference compounds consisting of the major and essential molecular species of any living organisms such as amino acids, carbohydrates, organic acids, nucleic acid building blocks, vitamins, as well as complex lipids.