The Intersection of Metabolomics and Genomics and Their Role in Human Health

Dear Colleagues,

Over 65 genome-wide association studies with metabolomics (mGWAS) have been published so far (http://www.metabolomix.com/list-of-all-published-gwas-with-metabolomics/), reporting hundreds of gene variant-to-metabolite associations (mQTLs). These mQTLs are of high value for many biomedical and pharmaceutical research applications. For instance, when mQTLs overlap (colocalize) with disease associations, they can support drug target prioritization by providing functional evidence in humans for the hypothesized pathogenic pathways. mQTLs are also a major source for biomedical hypothesis generation and can lead to targeted experiments that characterize gene function or unknown metabolites. The topic of this special issue, “The Intersection of Metabolomics and and Genomics and Their Role in Human Health” is broadly defined to include all studies that bring a metabolomics perspective to the role of genetic and epi-genetic variation in human health. This special issue therefore includes, but is not limited to, papers on new mQTL association studies (including replications in new populations), broad systems biology approaches that use existing mGWAS data (including studies on polygenic scores and Mendelian randomization with metabolites), and also dedicated targeted experimental studies with metabolites that are inspired by hypotheses generated from mQTLs (e.g. the characterization of gene function, unknown metabolites, identification of causal genes, etc.). Papers that link metabolites to epi-genetic modifications are also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Karsten Suhre
Guest Editor

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