[Molecular and genetic epidemiology]

Molecular epidemiology is defined as "the use of biological markers in epidemiologic research" and genetic epidemiology is defined as "the study of the interaction between genetic and environmental factors in epidemiologic research". Traditional epidemiologic approaches defined as "the study of the distribution and determinants of disease frequency in human population" could not address the importance of genetic susceptibility of humans in disease occurrence. However, the use of biological or genetic markers identified and characterized by the help of advance in molecular biology and human genetics now can provide us better understanding of multi-factorial or multistep disease occurrence in humans. Biological markers used in molecular epidemiology are classified into three groups: biomarkers of exposure (i.e., carcinogen metabolites in human urine, DNA-adducts, etc.), biomarkers of effects (i.e., oncoproteins, tumor markers, etc.), and biomarkers of susceptibility (i.e., genetic polymorphisms of carcinogen metabolism enzymes, DNA repair, etc.). Susceptibility genes involved in disease pathogenesis are categorized into two groups: high penetrance genes (i.e., BRAC1, RB, etc.) and low penetrance genes (i.e., GSTs, XRCC1, etc.). This paper will address the usefulnesses of bomarkers in edpidemiologic research and will show the examples of the use of selected low penetrance genes involved in human carcinogenesis. The importance of multidisciplinary approaches among epidemiologists, molecular biologists, and human geneticists will also be discussed.