UK Biobank<\/a> approved researchers around the world.\u00a0These data reflect one\u00a0part\u00a0of\u00a0the many thousands of metabolites circulating in our\u00a0body;\u00a0but\u00a0when combined with UK Biobank’s whole genome sequencing and proteomic data,\u00a0they\u00a0add\u00a0the next\u00a0piece of the puzzle to help researchers pinpoint the cause of an individual’s disease.\u00a0<\/p>\nProfessor Naomi Allen, Chief Scientist at UK Biobank, said:\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Metabolites\u00a0are\u00a0small molecules made when the body breaks down\u00a0the\u00a0food\u00a0we eat,\u00a0air we breathe,\u00a0and the medicines\u00a0we take.\u00a0Examining\u00a0metabolites\u00a0bridges the gap between health and disease,\u00a0allowing\u00a0researchers\u00a0to\u00a0better understand the biological processes\u00a0that genetic or protein data alone might miss.\u00a0Studying\u00a0metabolites\u00a0is\u00a0a powerful way to\u00a0unveil\u00a0new warning signs of disease, understand how illnesses start and evolve, and track how well treatments are working.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
These\u00a0metabolomic\u00a0data\u00a0have\u00a0been released\u00a0to approved researchers\u00a0in batches\u00a0since 2021. Research using the existing metabolomic data has already led to scientific discoveries including:\u00a0<\/p>\n
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‘Metabolomic clocks’,\u00a0which may give\u00a0an indication\u00a0of\u00a0how our biological age differs to our chronological age, helping us to understand who is at\u00a0increased risk from\u00a0poorer health\u00a0later in life<\/p>\n
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Professor Sir Rory Collins, Principal Investigator and Chief Executive of UK Biobank, said:\u00a0<\/p>\n
“These\u00a0metabolomic data\u00a0represent the\u00a0next link in the chain\u00a0of\u00a0UK Biobank’s\u00a0unparalleled data offering to scientists seeking to improve public health.\u00a0When combined with\u00a0the\u00a0genetic, proteomic and imaging information, these data\u00a0open up a new dimension of discovery,\u00a0allowing\u00a0scientists\u00a0to\u00a0study the combined effects of genes, proteins and environmental factors\u00a0on our health, providing us with\u00a0new insights into the real-time state of a\u00a0patient.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Coupled with UK Biobank’s data on health and lifestyle of half a million volunteers, these metabolomic data\u00a0will\u00a0drive\u00a0research\u00a0into:\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Risk prediction \u2013\u00a0metabolomics can\u00a0complement\u00a0the use of genetics in predicting future disease, helping to pinpoint those who would benefit most from early diagnostics and preventative treatments\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Mechanisms of\u00a0disease\u00a0\u2013\u00a0together with the whole genome sequencing data, these metabolomic data can be used to show how genetic changes\u00a0can\u00a0impact\u00a0the\u00a0levels of certain\u00a0metabolites, and whether this\u00a0slows\u00a0or drives\u00a0disease progression\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Drug discovery\u00a0\u2013\u00a0identifying\u00a0metabolic pathways linked to disease provides pharmaceutical companies with an insight into that disease that they\u00a0wouldn’t\u00a0have otherwise had,\u00a0reducing\u00a0development costs\u00a0and bringing effective drugs closer to patients\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Professor Michael Inouye, Professor of Systems Genomics & Population Health at University of Cambridge, said:\u00a0<\/p>\n
“There is a galaxy of metabolites within the body. To have metabolomic data on the scale of UK Biobank, alongside their diverse and growing range of information on half a million volunteers, creates a unique cohort study in which scientists can make discoveries.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I look forward to working with my team on these new metabolomic data, and I feel confident these data will enhance our ability to identify people at high risk of disease, so that doctors can intervene early to support longer and healthier lives.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr Jeffrey Barrett, Chief Scientific Officer at Nightingale Health, said:\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Generating metabolomics\u00a0data in all\u00a0half\u00a0a million individuals in UK Biobank was a flagship project for Nightingale. And having all that data available for the global network of UK Biobank researchers means scientists around the world can uncover critical insights into blood biomarkers and human health and test them in one of the biggest medical research projects in the world.\u00a0It’s\u00a0a huge win for everyone.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
A second point in time\u00a0<\/p>\n
For around\u00a020,000 of\u00a0the 500,000\u00a0UK Biobank\u00a0participants,\u00a0a second blood sample\u00a0was\u00a0also\u00a0analysed,\u00a0taken\u00a0around five years after the first.\u00a0This\u00a0extra set of metabolomic data will\u00a0allow researchers to look at how\u00a0changes in\u00a0metabolite levels\u00a0impact risk of developing a range of chronic diseases, such as heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Data access\u00a0<\/p>\n
These metabolomic\u00a0data are available to UK Biobank approved researchers via\u00a0the UK Biobank Research Analysis Platform\u00a0(UKB-RAP), and they are part of a wider data release.\u00a0A full summary of the new and updated data available can be found in\u00a0our\u00a0Researcher Community.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UK Biobank has today [Thursday 20\u00a0November] released\u00a0the final set of\u00a0data on\u00a0nearly 250\u00a0metabolites\u00a0\u2013 the\u00a0molecules in our blood produced by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63793,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[4250,2534,3535,564,2286,6243,134,2862,5457,13695,3060,3193,6106,25050,6107,111,139,69,2859,1675,1518,21212,13265,15156,15284],"class_list":["post-145583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-blood","tag-cancer","tag-diabetes","tag-food","tag-genetic","tag-genome","tag-health","tag-heart","tag-heart-disease","tag-imaging","tag-medical-research","tag-medicine","tag-metabolites","tag-metabolomics","tag-microbiome","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-protein","tag-public-health","tag-research","tag-small-molecules","tag-type-2-diabetes","tag-uk-biobank","tag-whole-genome-sequencing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}