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An Understudied Dimension: Why Age Needs to Be Considered When Studying Epigenetic-Environment Interactions.
Rio Barrere-Cain1, Patrick Allard1,2
1Institute for Society & Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Epigenetics Insights
|September 1, 2020
Summary
Environmental chemicals impact epigenetics, but how these interactions change with age remains unclear. Understanding age-related epigenetic changes is crucial for public health as populations age.
Area of Science:
- Environmental epigenetics
- Aging research
- Toxicology
Background:
- The human environment contains over 350,000 chemical compounds.
- The epigenome is sensitive to environmental chemicals during early development.
- Gene-environment and epigenetic-environment interactions across the lifespan are poorly understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the bidirectional relationship between aging, epigenetics, and environmental exposures.
- To highlight the importance of age as a factor in environmental health research.
- To identify research gaps concerning how aging affects responses to chemical environments.
Main Methods:
- Literature review and synthesis of current research on aging, epigenetics, and environmental factors.
- Discussion of the role of epigenetics in regulating the aging process.
- Exploration of how model organisms and network approaches can advance this field.
Main Results:
- Epigenetic pathways are key regulators of aging and can be influenced by environmental stimuli.
- Existing research primarily focuses on how chemicals affect aging, with less understanding of how aging impacts chemical responses.
- Systemic age-related epigenetic changes suggest adult organisms are not a uniform group.
Conclusions:
- Considering age is essential for understanding gene-environment interactions.
- Further research is needed to understand how aging influences an organism's response to its chemical environment.
- Model organisms and network approaches offer promising avenues for future research in environmental epigenetics and aging.
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