Metabolomics 2.0: novel unique branches with promising valorisation tracks

This project will focus on three new branches within metabolomics, i.e. the analysis of all metabolites (small molecules) in a cell, tissue or biofluid. These are: 1) DNA adductomics, which allows to characterize the whole of potentially harmful chemical alterations to DNA (i.e. the formation of DNA adducts) that are e.g. the first step in carcinogenesis and contribute to numerous diseases, 2) steroidomics, i.e. the analysis of all steroids and F2021/IOF-Equip/014 IOF-raad xxx 5/17 steroid metabolites that play an important role in many physiological processes such as reproduction and stress, and 3) crop metabolomics (metabolomics in crop research) in the search for and valorisation of natural alternatives to pesticides. These 3 lines of research are particularly unique, with UGent being one of the few institutions worldwide that has established significant expertise in these areas of research and/or has the potential to expand it even further. With the help of the latest generation Orbitrap, current bottlenecks for the further valorisation of these 3 promising research lines will be overcome.