EDMONTON -- Researchers at the University of Alberta have come up with what they say is the recipe of life after piecing together the chemical equivalent of the human genome.

The first-of-its-kind draft of the human 'metabolome' was unveiled yesterday in Edmonton after scientists catalogued and characterized 2,500 metabolites, 1,200 drugs and 3,500 food components that can be found in the human body.

"Metabolites are the canaries of the genome," says Project Leader Dr. David Wishart, professor of computing science and biological sciences at the University of Alberta.

"A single base change in our DNA can lead to a 100,000-times change in metabolite levels."

Metabolites are molecules that take part in the processes that make up the metabolism of a living thing. The metabolome is the network of all those metabolic reactions.

The announcement signifies a new era in diagnosing and detecting diseases through the chemical makeup of the human body, Wishart said.

He added he hopes Canada can maintain control of the project and prevent it from being taken over by U.S. researchers.

The $7.5 million project, funded by Genome Canada, is expected to revolutionize the diagnosis, prediction, prevention and monitoring of genetic, infectious and environmental diseases.

"Most medical tests today are based on measuring metabolites in blood or urine," Wishart says. "Unfortunately, less than 1% of known metabolites are being used in routine clinical testing.

"If you can only see 1% of what's going on in the body, you're obviously going to miss a lot."