- IF YOU WANT A SNAPSHOT OF YOUR CURRENT HEALTH,
THE SCIENTISTS IN THIS RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK LAB
CAN PROVIDE IT.
THEY STUDY METABOLITES, WHICH ARE THE MOLECULES
PRODUCED BY, YOU GUESSED IT, YOUR METABOLISM.
YOU'RE LOOKING AT RESEARCH IN THE
CUTTING EDGE FIELD OF METABOLOMICS.
- WHAT WE DO IS ACTUALLY REALLY SIMPLE.
WE TAKE A SAMPLE, IT COULD BE BLOOD, IT COULD BE TISSUE,
CELL CULTURE, AND WE EXTRACT ALL THE MOLECULES THAT ARE IN IT.
AND SO WE CAN MEASURE, WITH THE TECHNOLOGY BEHIND ME,
WE CAN MEASURE OVER A THOUSAND MOLECULES IN A SAMPLE.
SO IF YOU IMAGINE A BLOOD SAMPLE THAT YOU MIGHT
TAKE AT THE DOCTOR'S OFFICE, YOU MAY MEASURE GLUCOSE,
CHOLESTEROL, FREE FATTY ACIDS, BUT YOU'RE ONLY
REALLY MEASURING MAYBE AT MOST 10, A DOZEN THINGS.
WE CAN MEASURE OVER A THOUSAND INDIVIDUAL MOLECULES,
AND SO WITH THAT WE'RE GETTING A LOT DEEPER PICTURE
OF WHAT'S HAPPENING TO YOU METABOLICALLY, BIOCHEMICALLY.
- THINK OF IT THIS WAY, THE DNA FOUND WITHIN THE GENES
IN YOUR CELLS IS THE PROGRAM THAT RUNS
THE BODY, GENES MAKE US WHO WE ARE.
METABOLITES ARE THE PRODUCTS OF WHAT'S HAPPENING
IN REAL TIME AS THE CELLS AND THE BODY RUN THE PROGRAM.
METABOLITES ARE MOLECULES AND TOGETHER THOSE MOLECULES
FORM THE METABOLOME, EVERYTHING WORKS TOGETHER.
MOLECULES PRODUCED BY ONE CHEMICAL REACTION
COULD TRIGGER ANOTHER REACTION.
HERE'S ANOTHER WAY TO LOOK AT IT.
- WELL METABOLITES ARE REALLY KIND OF
THE MORTAR AND THE GENES ARE THE BRICKS
THAT KIND OF MAKE UP THE, YOU KNOW,
THE COMPOSITE OF A LIVING SYSTEM.
SO THAT'S HOW IMPORTANT METABOLITES ARE,
THEY REALLY ARE KIND OF HOW EVERYTHING
ULTIMATELY GETS ASSEMBLED AND FORMULATED.
- EACH SYSTEM IN THE BODY PRODUCES DIFFERENT TYPES
AND QUANTITIES OF METABOLITES.
AND, SINCE METABOLITES ARE CRITICAL TO THE WORKINGS
OF EVERY SYSTEM IN THE BODY, RESEARCHERS SAY
STUDYING METABOLITES PROVIDES A MORE
COMPLETE PICTURE OF A PERSON'S HEALTH.
THAT'S WHY I'M A STUDY SUBJECT.
- OK, SO I'M GOING TO WIPE YOUR FOREHEAD WITH ALCOHOL
TO CLEAN IT OFF AND THEN I'M GOING TO STICK THREE
SEBUM TAPES ON, THEY'RE LIKE STICKERS.
- OK.
- AND IT'S GOING TO EXTRACT THAT OIL OUT OF YOUR PORES.
YOU'LL DO WHATEVER FOR 30 MINUTES,
I'LL COME BACK AND TAKE THEM OFF.
- OK, SO SEBUM IS THE BODY OIL ON YOUR SKIN?
- THE OIL, YEP.
- WHAT MAKES YOUR SKIN SHINY.
- THAT'S EXACTLY RIGHT.
- OK, ALL RIGHT, GO AHEAD.
RESEARCHERS ARE BUILDING A DATABASE TO SEE
WHETHER THE METABOLITES IN SKIN OILS
COULD BE USED TO BUILD A LIPID PLATFORM.
LIPIDS ARE FATTY SUBSTANCES IN THE BODY.
- BASICALLY EVERYBODY'S FAMILIAR WITH GLUCOSE
AND CHOLESTEROL, BUT THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF OTHER
LITTLE METABOLITES CIRCULATING IN OUR CELLS
AND IN OUR BLOOD, THAT BASICALLY GOVERN OUR HEALTH STATE.
YOU KNOW BLOOD PRESSURE, TEMPERATURE,
ALL THE HOMEOSTATIC PROCESSES THAT KEEP US GOING,
METABOLISM IS KIND OF THE, IS THE UNDERPINNINGS OF THAT.
- BECAUSE METABOLITES AFFECT AND ARE AFFECTED BY
EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN THE BODY,
SCIENTISTS BELIEVE SPOTTING CHANGES IN METABOLITES
COULD BE USED BY DOCTORS AS AN EARLY INDICATOR OF DISEASE.
THAT WOULD BE PERSONALIZED MEDICINE AT A WHOLE NEW LEVEL.
- ONE OF THE TESTS WE'RE VERY
EXCITED ABOUT IS A PREDIABETES TEST.
SO RIGHT NOW YOU CAN GET RELATIVELY WELL DIAGNOSED FOR
WHETHER OR NOT YOU'RE DEVELOPING DIABETES AS A DISEASE.
WE WANT TO HAVE FASTING BLOOD MARKERS
THAT WOULD ALLOW SOMEBODY TO KNOW THAT
THEY'RE ACTUALLY BECOMING PREDIABETIC,
WHICH IS A VERY EASIER CONDITION TO TREAT
WITH EXERCISE AND EVEN WITH POTENTIALLY DRUG TREATMENT
THAN ONCE YOU'VE ACTUALLY DEVELOPED THE DISEASE.
- IN FACT METABOLITES CAN PROVIDE
A WEALTH OF INFORMATION ON A VARIETY OF TOPICS.
- 30 MINUTES AND THEN I'LL SUCK THE SEBUM UP
INTO THE LITTLE POCKETS IN THE TAPE.
- OK.
- YEP, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
- METABOLON DOES ABOUT 800 STUDIES EACH YEAR
FOR PHARMACEUTICAL, BIOTECHNOLOGY, FOOD AND
COSMETIC COMPANIES, ALL TO HELP THEM UNDERSTAND
HOW THEIR PRODUCTS WORK IN YOUR BODY.
TAKE THE CASE OF CHEERIOS.
- CHEERIOS HAD HAD A CEASE AND DESIST ORDER
THAT THEY COULDN'T MAKE THE HEART HEALTH ADS ANYMORE,
YOU KNOW, SO THIS WAS ISSUED BY FDA SOME YEARS AGO.
THEY DID A CLINICAL TRIAL AND WE DID THE ANALYSIS
AND WE COULD SHOW THAT, YEAH, IF YOU'RE ON A DIET
OF CHEERIOS YOU ACTUALLY HAVE A VERY POSITIVE EFFECT
ON LIPIDS THAT ARE BAD FOR YOUR HEART.
YOU KNOW AND SO THEY'RE NOW BACK, IF YOU'VE NOTICED,
OVER THE PAST TWO OR THREE YEARS,
THEY'RE BACK TO NOW HEART HEALTH CLAIMS.
AND SO A LOT OF THAT WAS BASED ON, YOU KNOW,
OUR ABILITY TO SHOW THAT THAT WAS HAPPENING.
- HELLO, YOU MIGHT WANT TO GRAB THESE.
- YES.
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- BY THE WAY, THOSE SAMPLES OF THE OIL ON MY SKIN
WILL BE INCLUDED WITH MORE THAN 100 OTHER SAMPLES
IN THE DATABASE FOR THE INITIAL LIPID STUDY.
IT'S ALL PART OF THE GROWING UNDERSTANDING
OF HOW HEALTH FACTORS, SUCH AS GENETICS,
DIET, LIFESTYLE AND ENVIRONMENT CHANGE
OUR BIOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION, OUR METABOLOME.
AND HOW MEASURING THOSE ARE CRUCIAL TO OUR UNDERSTANDING
OF HEALTH AND THE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE HEALTH.
- AND SO WHAT WE CAN DO IS WE CAN TAKE A SAMPLE
AND MEASURE ALL OF THOSE SMALL MOLECULES
ALL AT THE SAME TIME AND FIGURE OUT AT A
PARTICULAR POINT IN TIME WHAT IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING.
AND SO IF WE SEE THOSE TYPES OF CHANGES
THEN WE CAN TELL THE PERSON, WELL, LOOK,
YOU HAVE AN EARLY STAGE OF THIS DISEASE.
YOU KNOW AND IF YOU CAN, MANY OF THESE DISEASES
IF YOU CATCH THEM EARLY, YOU KNOW BEFORE
IT BECOMES A BIG PROBLEM, YOU CAN
ACTUALLY INTERVENE AND SOLVE THE DISEASE.
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