A Precision Environmental Health Approach to Prevention of Human Disease

Authors

Andrea Baccarelli
Dana C Dolinoy
Cheryl Lyn Walker

Publication Date

4-28-2023

Journal

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-023-37626-2

PMID

37117186

PMCID

PMC10147599

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

4-28-2023

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-Print

Published Open-Access

yes

Keywords

Humans, Proteomics, Health Promotion, Environmental Health, Microbiota, Biomarkers, Molecular medicine, Physiology, Risk factors

Abstract

Human health is determined by the interaction of our environment with the genome, epigenome, and microbiome, which shape the transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic landscape of cells and tissues. Precision environmental health is an emerging field leveraging environmental and system-level ('omic) data to understand underlying environmental causes of disease, identify biomarkers of exposure and response, and develop new prevention and intervention strategies. In this article we provide real-life illustrations of the utility of precision environmental health approaches, identify current challenges in the field, and outline new opportunities to promote health through a precision environmental health framework.