Mass spectrometry-based omics workflows generate a huge amount of data, which requires a great deal of cleaning and preprocessing before researchers can focus on data visualization and interpretation. Finding new trends and discoveries in omics results is hard enough without having to worry about complex data analysis. Furthermore, spending effort on data analysis leaves researchers with less time to accelerate innovation and uncover meaningful insights.
Our new bioinformatics platform, oloMAP Portal by oloBion, was born from this need. It is an interactive web platform for metabolomics, lipidomics and proteomics data analysis and interpretation, integrating statistical analysis with data visualization to enable in-depth biological exploration of omics data.
With oloMAP Portal, researchers can move from raw data to insight faster, without compromising robustness or flexibility. First, they can save time by handling complex, high-volume datasets, and identifying key biomolecules. Second, reliability is strengthened through advanced biostatistics and continuous technological improvements. Third, the platform offers dynamism and flexibility through secure, unified access, interactive visualization, and extensive customization to fit each study’s needs. As a result, researchers can focus on biological interpretation and discovery, accelerating studies and making their lives easier.
Last year, 2024, we launched and expanded oloMAP Portal with major feature releases. Below is a summary of the key capabilities introduced at launch and the new modules added throughout the year.
oloMAP Portal Launch
In July 2024, oloMAP Portal was launched with core functionality to support end-to-end data exploration. This initial release included pages for study information (e.g., study design), study results (e.g., raw data), and compound identification with multiple visualization approaches for compound classes, along with a broad set of biostatistical analyses tailored to each omics layer.
Across lipidomics, metabolomics, and proteomics, the biostatistical methods included were PCA, PLS-DA, Volcano Plot, and Box Plot. For lipidomics and metabolomics, the additional analyses included were Chemical Enrichment, Ridgeline Plot and Hierarchical Clustering, while lipidomics also supported Fatty Acid Analysis. For proteomics, we added Functional Enrichment method, using STRING as an external service.
All features were fully customizable, allowing users to select groups for comparison and define p-value and fold-change thresholds. Finally, this initial release included a Settings section to control missing-value handling, compute statistics with log-transformed, and remove groups or samples that were no longer relevant.
New feature release: Correlation Module
In October 2024, we added the Correlation Module to oloMAP Portal. This tool introduced the ability to explore the relationships between sample information (e.g. phenotypic data, sample metadata, or 3rd party measurements) and analytes detected in omics results, enabling the identification of correlations with numerical variables as well as the detection of significant differences in analyte levels across categorical groups (e.g. gender, species…).
New feature release: Support for Subgroup Information
In early November 2024, we enhanced group comparisons with the introduction of Subgroup Information. This update enabled users to combine subgroup and group variables, expanding comparison possibilities and strengthening data interpretation to support the extraction of meaningful conclusions.
New features release: Pathway Analysis and Advanced Statistics
In late November 2024, we released Pathway Analysis for metabolomics and the Advanced Statistics module for multi-factor study designs. On the one hand, Pathway Analysis enabled users to explore the biological pathways that are significantly enriched given a set of metabolites. It helps to understand the biological significance of changes in metabolite levels, providing insights into the metabolic alterations associated with biological conditions, experimental groups, or physiological states. The tool supported multiple organisms, including humans, mice, and plants. On the other hand, the Advanced Statistics module expanded oloMAP Portal with more sophisticated statistical approaches, such as 1-and-2-way ANOVA, to strengthen data analysis and derive clearer, statistically supported insights.
The launch and the major updates released throughout the year shaped oloMAP Portal in 2024. We will keep expanding oloMAP Portal with additional analytical features and user experience enhancements to help researchers move faster from data to biological insight.
Would you like to see the platform in action or discuss how it can support your next study?
Contact us to request a guided demo and discuss your study requirements. If you already have access, we hope that you are enjoying our platform and that it is helping you turn your omics data into biological insights.