The main objective of this innovative research is to characterize ‘metabolic phenotypes’, by means of a high resolution full scan Orbitrap mass spectrometer, which will analyse feces, intact biopsies or exfoliated colonocytes. At a later stage of the research these metabolomic fingerprints may serve as a specific statistically founded prediagnostic screening tool for different types of gastrointestinal disorders (inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer).