Metabolic modeling with big data and the gut microbiome

Publication date: Available online 5 February 2016 Source:Applied & Translational Genomics Author(s): Jaeyun Sung, Vanessa Hale, Annette C. Merkel, Pan-Jun Kim, Nicholas Chia The recent advances in high-throughput ‘omics technologies have enabled researchers to explore the intricacies of the human microbiome. On the clinical front, the gut microbial community has been the focus of many biomarker-discovery studies. While the recent deluge of high-throughput data in microbiome research has been vastly informative and groundbreaking, we have yet to capture the full potential of ‘omics-based approaches. Realizing the promise of multi-omics data will require integration of disparate ‘omics data, as well as a biologically relevant, mechanistic framework – or metabolic model - on which to overlay these data. Also, a new paradigm for metabolic model evaluation is necessary. Herein, we outline the need for multi-omics data integration, as well as the accompanying challenges. Furthermore, we present a framework for characterizing the ecology of the gut microbiome based on metabolic network modeling.

Source: Applied and Translational Genomics - February 5, 2016 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research