10 ’Omics You Need To Know

Confused by the proliferation of ‘omics but don’t want to be left behind? Fret not, Asian Scientist Magazine has got you covered with our handy explainer on the hottest ‘omics around.

Lipidomics

Credit: Michael Chelen/Flickr/CC
Credit: Michael Chelen/Flickr/CC

Material studied: Lipids
Methods used: Electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry, MALDI imaging

Lipids—fats, oils and waxes, for example—are major components of cellular membranes, and perform critical roles in cell signaling and energy storage.

Unlike proteins, lipids are not encoded by DNA and can be difficult to isolate and study. Yet, irregularities in our lipids are increasingly being linked to a number of human diseases, including cancer and diabetes.

The relatively new field of lipidomics uses techniques based on liquid chromatography and spectrometry to examine the lipids in our cells, and to understand the pathways or networks they are involved in.

Shuzhen received a PhD degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA, where she studied the immune response of mosquito vectors to dengue virus.

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