Application of genomic technologies: DNA microarrays and metabolic profiling of obesity in the hypothalamus and in subcutaneous fat

The future of metabonomics depends on integrating the vast amount of information about biological pathways with high-throughput assays, such as those obtained with DNA microarrays. We have presented a sampling of the types of single-gene and functional gene group analyses that are possible in carefully designed and executed experiments. In the future, the type of rapid pathway analysis we reported in the present work should serve as a guideline for others interested in making the most out of their data sets. Indeed, many of the pathways and single genes implicated through these analyses are consistent with the existing literature on obesity and suggest several ways in which gastric bypass surgery may help correct a person's metabolism toward a more normal state.