Having no predefined targets in your sample isn’t always a drawback. The International Conference on Non-Targeted Screening (ICNTS) demonstrated how omitting targets in mass spectrometry analysis can reveal a broader and more nuanced picture of the chemical space. 

From October 13-16, for the fifth time, non-targeted screening experts from around the world gathered in Erding, Germany, to share their latest research and exchange ideas. The event showcased cutting-edge developments across diverse fields, including metabolomics, foodomics, water analysis, harmonisation, and prioritisation. 

Representing our group, Pilleriin Peets, Principal Investigator of the Chemical Space & Omics group, gave an oral presentation on compound class vectors for comparing metabolomics samples. Her talk was part of the computational mass spectrometry session, chaired by Emma Schymanski, who also gave a keynote on “Data Handling in a Modern NTS World.” 

The ICNTS once again proved that by embracing the unknown, researchers are expanding the boundaries of chemical analysis and opening new doors for discovery. Whether in environmental science, health, or food safety, the power of non-targeted approaches lies in their ability to reveal what we didn’t even know to look for. 

Learn more about the conference and the community: https://afin-ts.de/icnts25/

They say it takes a village to raise a child—and in science, it takes a community to push boundaries and do great science. In the multi-omics field, the best discoveries emerge from collaboration among chemists, microbiologists, bioinformaticians, computer scientists, and many others.

The NPLinker community in Wageningen, Netherlands, is dedicated to bridging the gap between genomics and metabolomics while also connecting researchers analyzing these complex datasets.

This week Pilleriin Peets had the fantastic opportunity to once again participate in their five-day intensive hands-on workshop, which covered key tools and applications, including BiG-SCAPE, MZmine, GNPS2, NPLinker, and PairedOmics.

A highlight of the week was the Symposium on March 26, celebrating 10 years of genomics mining and 5 years of metabolomics mining at Wageningen University & Research. Genomics mining research in Wageningen is led by Marnix Medema, whose developments include antiSMASH and MIBiG. Metabolomics topics were covered by Justin J.J. van der Hooft, whose contributions to the field include PairedOmics platform, as well as MS2Query.

The symposium’s keynote was delivered by Pieter Dorrestein, one of the most influential scientists in metabolomics, with over 400 publications and 75,000 citations. His work in computational metabolomics includes the Global Natural Products Social Molecular Networking (GNPS) platform, which enables researchers to find spectral connections within their samples and annotate compounds using publicly available spectra. During his talk, he highlighted his bile acid research and emphasized the critical role of open-access data in advancing the field.

Knowledge from this week will be brought back to Tartu and Pilleriin is eager to integrate GNPS2 into her workflow to enhance compound annotation in her non-targeted mass spectrometry datasets.