Data Science at the Interface of Air Pollution and Lung Health: Toward Precision Health
Kenneth Ofori-Amanfo1, Maya Dustin1,2, Emilia L Lim1
1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Edwin S.H. Leong Centre for Healthy Aging, Faculty of Medicine, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada;
Annual Review of Biomedical Data Science
|April 21, 2026
Summary
Air pollution significantly impacts lung health, causing respiratory diseases by disrupting molecular pathways. Understanding these molecular changes is key to preventing and managing pollution-related lung conditions.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Health
- Molecular Biology
- Pulmonology
Background:
- Air pollution is a major global health concern, strongly associated with increased mortality and respiratory illnesses like asthma, COPD, and lung cancer.
- Precision health initiatives aim to understand molecular dysregulation caused by air pollution to improve disease prevention and risk management.
- Previous research has explored how air pollution affects various molecular layers, including the methylome, transcriptome, metabolome, proteome, genome, and microbiome.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review and synthesize existing studies on the molecular mechanisms linking air pollution to respiratory diseases.
- To assess the limitations of current research in this field.
- To discuss the contributions of multi-omic analyses to understanding air pollution's impact on lung health and identify future research directions.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of studies investigating the molecular effects of air pollution on respiratory health.
- Analysis of multi-omic data (methylome, transcriptome, metabolome, proteome, genome, microbiome).
- Evaluation of large-scale analyses elucidating pollution-driven molecular dysregulation.
Main Results:
- Air pollution exposure is linked to significant molecular dysregulation across multiple biological systems.
- Large-scale studies have demonstrated air pollution's role in compromising genomic stability.
- Key pathways affected include inflammation and apoptosis, contributing to the development and progression of respiratory diseases.
Conclusions:
- Multi-omic approaches have significantly advanced our understanding of how air pollution promotes respiratory diseases.
- Future research should focus on integrating improved exposure estimates with multi-omic data for more precise health insights.
- Continued investigation into molecular pathways is crucial for developing targeted strategies for preventing and managing pollution-induced lung diseases.
