Joining the dots between omics and environmental management

Abstract

With the rapid advancement of DNA sequencing technologies and the substantial reduction of their running costs, environmental genomics and transcriptomics become more affordable and popular in environmental toxicology. In parallel, there are also speedy improvements of mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry, enabling high-throughput analyses of proteins and metabolites in biological samples and promoting research studies in proteomics and metabolomics. By applying these high-throughput omics technologies, researchers can quickly generate an unprecedentedly vast amount of biological data that may be useful to environmental management. However, the current pace of applying omics information in environmental management is still very slow, and lags well behind the rapid development of omics-based research. This timely commentary, therefore, calls for joint efforts to increase this pace and join the dots between omics and environmental management, turning omics into practical tools. Herein, I explore how omics can contribute to risk assessment and management of chemicals, and recommend what we can do to facilitate and promote the use of omics information in environmental management. This article is especially dedicated to my role model, mentor, and friend, Peter M Chapman (1951-2017), who sadly passed away on 26 September 2017. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2018;14:169-173. © 2017 SETAC.

Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals in Human Fetal Growth

“…In order to be able to define in more detail the relationship between exposure to endocrine disruptors during fetal life and the consequences on the development of the fetus and postnatal health, we still need not only well designed longitudinal research but the possibility of exploiting new techniques, particularly those integrating the exposome [80] with the different "omics" [81]. Finally, on the basis of an increasing amount of evidence, we cannot ignore that endocrine disruptors might interfere with the gut microbiome, contributing to the risk of developing some of the known chronic non-communicable diseases during the entire life span [82].…”

Drivers of and Obstacles to the Adoption of Toxicogenomics for Chemical Risk Assessment: Insights from Social Science Perspectives

“…Given recent expressions of concern about the pace of adoption ( Bergeson 2008 ; LaLone et al. 2017 ; Leung 2018 ), this prevalence may in itself represent an obstacle. It appears that research and development of omics tools has heretofore focused more on the tools and associated data abstracted from context than on characterizing the adopting system to develop a clearer “situated” view of the “tools in use.” We propose that a more balanced approach—one that places more emphasis on the adopter-centric perspective and, therefore, users—could facilitate and speed the adoption of toxicogenomics and other NAMs.…”

“…Despite impressive advances, the scope and pace of adoption of new toxicogenomics tools and data sets in chemical risk assessment have, generally, not met the ambitious expectations of their proponents ( Birnbaum 2013 ; Cote et al. 2016 ; Leung 2018 ). In particular, regulatory uptake has been slow despite notable improvements and new applications ( Grondin et al.…”

Toward Sustainable Environmental Quality: Priority Research Questions for Asia

“…Traditional ecological risk evaluations have typically compared chemical concentrations in environmental media to available thresholds (i.e., PNECs) to define risk (Maruya et al 2016), and the target chemical analysis-based methods are in many circumstances unable to prioritize key toxicants in complex mixtures. Fortunately, there is growing awareness of the importance of the challenges, expressed in a growing body of research on nontarget chemical analysis (Leung 2018;Moschet et al 2018). Although the development and harmonization of sample databases for authentication are urgent needs for the application of nontarget analysis approaches, the development of sophisticated instruments in recent years, particularly a variety of high-resolution mass spectrometers, along with the integration of computational chemistry and data science, brings hope that we will see substantial progress in the field of nontarget analysis.…”