Stuff in - stuff out.
That's pretty much a basic fact of life for people and it holds true right on down to the basic cellular level. If you start to compare what a healthy organism takes in, how it is broken down, and what comes out as waste you're getting close to the science of metabolomics. Figure out how the process differs in healthy organisms vs diseased organisms and you start to develop a diagnostic tool.

That's been the life's work of David Wishart who now heads up The Metabolomics Innovation Centre at the University of Alberta. His work and the applied research taking place at the Centre have put Edmonton onto a world stage where metabolomics is the rising star playing a role in new therapies and treatments.

Journalist Don Hill talked with Dr. Wishart about metabolomics and TMIC and sent us this report. (you might want to note the part about tricorders - Star Trek is getting closer! )