Computational Metabolomics (Dagstuhl Seminar 15492)

he Dagstuhl Seminar 15492 on Computational Metabolomics brought together leading experimental (analytical chemistry and biology) and computational (computer science and bioinformatics) experts with the aim to foster the exchange of expertise needed to advance computational metabolomics. The focus was on a dynamic schedule with overview talks followed by breakout sessions, selected by the participants, covering the whole experimental-computational continuum in mass spectrometry, as well as the use of metabolomics data in applications. A general observation was that metabolomics is in the state that genomics was 20 years ago and that while the availability of data is holding back progress, several good initiatives are present. The importance of small molecules to life should be communicated properly to assist initiating a global metabolomics initiative, such as the Human Genome project. Several follow-ups were discussed, including workshops, hackathons, joint paper(s) and a new Dagstuhl Seminar in two years to follow up on this one.