Big data, big picture: Metabolomics meets systems biology

Metabolomics—the study of the collection of an organism’s metabolites—provides a molecular measurement of phenotype, or the characteristics resulting from the genotype’s interaction with the environment. Using a range of analytical tools to scale the mountains of data collected, including molecular detection and bioinformatics, scientists use metabolomics to understand systems biology, which is the complete computational analysis and modeling of an organism and its well-being.