The research proposed here addresses fundamental limitations of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in vivo, enhancing their utility and enabling new clinical and preclinical applications. MRI and MRS have become very powerful clinical modalities, and applications continue to evolve. However, sensitivity is relatively low, so in most MRI studies, the signal arises mostly from water, and contrast arises primarily from parameters which often only have indirect clinical relevance or correlation with metabolism and cell biochemistry.