Application of OMICS technologies in occupational and environmental health research; current status and projections
- 1Utrecht University, Division Environmental Epidemiology, Utrecht, the Netherlands
- 2Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
- 3Division of Environmental Health Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
- Correspondence to Jelle Vlaanderen, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Division of Environmental Epidemiology, University Utrecht, Po Box 80178, 3508 TD, Utrecht, the Netherlands; j.j.vlaanderen{at}uu.nl
- Accepted 12 August 2009
- Published Online First 20 November 2009
Abstract
OMICS technologies are relatively new biomarker discovery tools that can be applied to study large sets of biological molecules. Their application in human observational studies (HOS) has become feasible in recent years due to a spectacular increase in the sensitivity, resolution and throughput of OMICS-based assays. Although, the number of OMICS techniques is ever expanding, the five most developed OMICS technologies are genotyping, transcriptomics, epigenomics, proteomics and metabolomics. These techniques have been applied in HOS to various extents. However, their application in occupational environmental health (OEH) research has been limited. Here, we will discuss the opportunities these new techniques provide for OEH research. In addition we will address difficulties and limitations to the interpretation of the data that is generated by OMICS technologies. To illustrate the current status of the application of OMICS in OEH research, we will provide examples of studies that used OMICS technologies to investigate human health effects of two well-known toxicants, benzene and arsenic.
Footnotes
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Funding European Union 6th Framework Program “ECNIS” (FOOD-CT-2005-513943). MTS, LZ and CFS were supported by NIH grants P42ES004705, R01 ES006721, R01 CA122663, and U54 ES016115.
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Competing interests MTS has received consulting and expert testimony fees from law firms representing both plaintiffs and defendants in cases involving exposure to benzene.
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Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
