Austrian researchers facilitate lipid data analysis
(PHYSorg.com Chemistry)

No lipids, no life. In all organisms, lipids form cell walls, store energy and release it when necessary, and play an important role in cell signalling. It has been proved that changes in the composition of lipids play a causal role in illnesses such as cancer, fatty liver and multiple sclerosis. According to rough estimates, there are about 300,000 different lipid species. For the detection of lipids indicative for diseases, healthy and sick organisms are typically compared quantitatively. This comparison requires reliable and detailed information about the structure and composition of lipids from tissue samples - and to this end researchers from the BioTechMed-Graz initiative have developed a tool which is presented in the current issue of Nature Methods.