A precision environmental health approach to prevention of human disease

Abstract

Human health is determined by the interaction of our environment with the genome, epigenome, and microbiome, which shape the transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic landscape of cells and tissues. Precision environmental health is an emerging field leveraging environmental and system-level (‘omic) data to understand underlying environmental causes of disease, identify biomarkers of exposure and response, and develop new prevention and intervention strategies. In this article we provide real-life illustrations of the utility of precision environmental health approaches, identify current challenges in the field, and outline new opportunities to promote health through a precision environmental health framework.

Exploring Single-Cell Exposomics by Mass Spectrometry

“…In terms of environmental health, single-cell exposomics will enhance our ability to conduct more precise risk assessments of environmental pollutants and identify health-threatening exposures. By understanding how different cell types react to various environmental toxins, we can identify novel cellular targets for environmental health prevention and intervention . Moreover, this approach aligns with the vision of precision medicine.…”

“…The marriage of bioinformatics/cheminformatics and machine learning with single-cell exposomics is a vital component of modern research, aiding navigation through the immense data landscape of individual cell responses to various environmental exposures. 2 The potential integration of single-cell exposomics with other omics approaches such as genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and/or metabolomics is another promising direction. This convergence offers a holistic view of the cell's response to environmental exposure, from exposure to cellular response, and the eventual health outcome, helping to unravel the complex biological networks and pathways that mediate these responses.…”

“…Advanced algorithms assist in identifying patterns and trends in the data, enabling the prediction of cellular responses based on exposure profiles and translating the complex data into actionable insights. The marriage of bioinformatics/cheminformatics and machine learning with single-cell exposomics is a vital component of modern research, aiding navigation through the immense data landscape of individual cell responses to various environmental exposures …”

“…This has largely been propelled by the concept of the exposome and the rapidly transforming field of exposomics, the systematic study of the exposome . As a burgeoning discipline, exposomics is accelerating research in environmental health sciences, unraveling the exposure factors contributing to human phenotype and disease susceptibilities . On the contrary, the integrations of single-cell analysis and various cutting-edge mass spectrometry (MS) methods offer unprecedented opportunities to unravel the complexity of environmental exposures at an individual cell level.…”

Enabling translational geroscience by broadening the scope of geriatric care

“…Indeed, a growing interest is the exposome‐driven mechanisms that potentially underlie health disparities associated with race or socio‐economic status. These exposures impart a life history of damage accumulation, and short‐ and long‐term stress responses, that could potentially be imprinted in the epigenome (Baccarelli et al., 2023). To date, however, the subclinical interplay of early life exposure events with reserves and resiliencies on health trajectory remains under‐studied yet may help in explaining observed heterogeneity in health outcomes.…”