Consensus recommendations to promote and advance predictive systems toxicology and toxicogenomics

The number of high throughput -omics technologies continues to grow. Toxicogenomic application of these technologies is poised to greatly influence current regulatory toxicology. However, many changes are needed before a systems biology level approach can be effectively incorporated into the regulatory toxicology framework. A workshop was held at the Annual Environmental Mutagen Society meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, on advances in -omics applications. A number of recommendations emerged from the workshop discussion (beyond what activities are currently ongoing) aimed at advancing the ultimate goal of predictive systems toxicology from the present formative state of toxicogenomics. Recommendations include: (1) encouraging investigators to embrace open-access data sharing, (2) increasing current database and curation capacity, (3) establishment of large collaborative projects investigating multiple -omics endpoints within the same groups of animals, (4) mechanisms to encourage collaborative science including increasing the value of junior authorship on multi-authored papers and changes in the promotion process, (5) further development of standardized protocols, and (6) investment from the funding agencies and toxicology community to build the required infrastructure.