We provide metabolomic profiling to the entire UF community and have built a library that enables metabolite detection in a variety of sample types. In our efforts to continually expand the number of metabolites we measure at SECIM, we will accept standards of any metabolite and run them on our platforms free of charge. This will improve metabolite coverage for our global metabolite assays.
What Are Metabolites?
Metabolites are small molecules that result from the chemical processes that fuel and sustain life. Their identification facilitates understanding of the fundamental biological and biochemical processes that occur in complex systems, such as the human body.
Many metabolites are also used as markers or indicators in disease studies. At UF and around the world, researchers are dedicating themselves to finding and identifying metabolites. Metabolites can shed light on the state of health, nutrition or disease in a living thing.
Previous studies using metabolites have demystified questions about health issues like heart attacks and led to inventions such as the iKnife, which analyzes smoke created during electrosurgery to prevent cutting healthy tissue.
Why Should I Donate?
The metabolite library is a valuable resource for all UF community members and increases our collective knowledge, leading to improvements in our everyday lives. Donating is simple and free, and contributing samples to our library helps the entire scientific community. Science is enriched by collaboration, and practical implementations for human health start with an increased biorepository of metabolite samples for profiling.
How to Donate
At this time, we can only accept standards from UF investigators. We need 500 uL of a 1 mg/mL solution to test retention behavior and collect tandem mass spectra. To submit a standard, please send your request to http://secim.ufl.edu/contact/.