我们认为这个定义现在可以更广泛地表述为:代谢组学是关于定量描述生物内源性代谢物质的整体及其对内因和外因变化应答规律的科学 (“Metabonomics is the branch of science concerned with the quantitative understandings of the metabolite complement of integrated living systems and its dynamic responses to the changes of both endogenous factors (such as physiology and development) and exogenous factors (such as environmental factors and xenobiotics).”).