Toward a road map for global -omics: a primer on -omic technologies.

Area of Science:

• Integrative '-omics' research, encompassing genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, epigenomics, and exposomics.

Background:

• The field of '-omics' aims to identify and modify environmental risk factors in genetically susceptible individuals.
• There's a growing effort to integrate genetic information with individual and societal risk factors.
• Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified a small proportion of heritability, necessitating the exploration of gene-environment and gene-gene interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the importance of global '-omics' research in understanding disease etiology.
• To emphasize the dynamic and complex nature of the exposome and epigenome.
• To underscore the need for collaborative epidemiologic studies in mapping environmental exposures and their effects.

Main Methods:

• Review of current research trends in global '-omics' fields.
• Discussion of the integration of genetic, biological, and environmental factors.
• Consideration of nonlinear relationships in gene-environment and gene-gene interactions.

Main Results:

• Global '-omics' approaches are essential for a comprehensive understanding of disease.
• The exposome and epigenome are dynamic and influenced by age, with critical periods like prenatal and perinatal development.
• Identifying the long-term effects of environmental exposures requires sophisticated, collaborative research.

Conclusions:

• Integrating diverse '-omics' data is key to advancing our understanding of complex diseases.
• Future research must address the complexities of the exposome and epigenome, particularly concerning timing and duration of exposure.
• Collaborative epidemiologic studies are vital for fully mapping the human epigenome and its interactions with environmental factors.