Introduction to Lipidomics

This chapter intends to provide a quick overview about the state of the art in the lipidomics field. It comprises various aspects including a short statement about the lipidomics communities’ scientific developments within the last three decades, where we stand right now, and even more importantly, where we see our potentials to develop as a scientific community. Furthermore, this chapter touches important issues in the lipidomics field like standardization, preanalytical procedures, lipid identification, quantitation, reference materials, clinical lipidomics, and lipid ontology. In this respect, the chapter provides a concise introduction about the activities launched by the lipidomics community in recent years for developing, standardizing, and harmonizing the critical aspects of the above-mentioned issues.