Jul 10, 2025 Biomedical Research and the “-Omics” Revolution
In 1990, an international research collaboration was launched to map and sequence the human genome, now known as the Human Genome Project (HGP). Four years earlier, Thomas H. Roderick of the Jackson Laboratory in Maine coined a new term – “genomics” – that was adopted as the title of a new academic journal (launched in 1987) by Oxford University Press.
In a relatively short period, the world was treated to several new “omics” specialities – microbiomics in 1988, proteomics in 1995, and metabolomics in 1998. In 2005, Christopher Wild from the International Agency for Research on Cancer added the term “Exposomics” to the biomedical research literature. According to Wild, the term initially had minimal impact. Still, it gained renewed attention following a brief article published in Science in 2010 and a meeting at the US National Academies of Science that same year titled “Exposure Science in the 21st Century: A Vision and a Strategy” (NAP, 2012). In simple terms, exposomics refers to the scientific study of the exposome, which is the complete range of environmental exposures an individual encounters over their lifetime and the impact these exposures have on biology and health.
The National Academy meeting and the Science article breathed new life into the Exposome concept, leading to widespread discussions about its potential. For instance, the European Union has released a report on the Exposome concept and has funded the International Human Exposome Network (IHEN). In the United States, the National Institutes of Health funded the Nexus, an abbreviation for the Network for Exposomics in the U.S.
In May this year, the Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT) held an event in Washington, DC, to launch IMPACT—the Implementation Moonshot Project for Alternative Chemical Testing, which aims to advance the Human Exposome Project. Dr. Thomas Hartung, the director of CAAT, views this project as another international “big science” initiative, similar to the Human Genome Project (HGP) from 1990 to 2003.
The Human Genome Project (HGP), which cost approximately $3.8 billion, has been reported to yield a return on investment of around $140. In other words, for every dollar spent on the HGP, approximately $140 has been generated. Dr. Hartung commented at the Washington event, “prevention is cheaper than prescription.”
The current attention on exposomics is partly driven by the significant impact of environmental conditions on human health and disease. For instance, a report from the EU highlights the success of the HGP, which was launched in 1990 and concluded in 2003. However, it also points out that 70-90% of disease risks can be attributable to environmental factors rather than genetics alone. Twin studies have shown that, for most diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and coronary heart disease – genetics accounts for at most 30% or less of the risk of developing these conditions. The remaining risk arises from environmental or lifestyle factors, collectively called an individual’s Exposome. It has been stated that while genetics loads the gun, the environment pulls the trigger!
In a 1992 review, the renowned medical epidemiologist, Sir Richard Doll, emphasized the importance of environmental exposure and human lifestyle choices on human health. As Sir Richard noted, “modern industry has given rise to many occupational hazards and to the dispersal of small amounts of many toxic chemicals …[although] …exposure to them has been so small that any associated risk is difficult if not impossible to detect. The major environmental hazards that now need to be tackled are quite different: poverty, the pressure of population growth, and the production of greenhouse gases.”
The proposed Exposome project qualifies as a BHAG – a Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal. Initially, the HGP faced challenges in gaining scientific support, as many individual scientists were concerned that it was based more on hype than scientific merit, potentially diverting funding, talent, and general support away from smaller, more deserving biomedical projects. However, the HGP’s subsequent success, demonstrated by a strong return on investment and significant DNA and RNA sequencing advancements, has fostered a more favorable environment for new biomedical BHAGs. Nevertheless, the Exposome project presents a more complex variation of the HGP.
The Human Genome Project (HGP) was primarily focused on identifying and sequencing all human genes, while the Exposome Project has a broader scope. It aims to integrate all physical, chemical, biological, and psychosocial factors that influence human biology throughout an individual’s life. It will be no simple matter to create a research framework that would “collaboratively bridge emerging technologies, big data, and artificial intelligence with ethical and social considerations” to advance the global understanding of the Exposome. However, the participants at the May forum in Washington accepted this challenge.
As Dr. Rolf Vermeulen of Utrecht University and co-leader of the EU’s International Human Exposome Network (IHEN) noted, “the compilation of different factors – be it the air we breathe, water we drink, chemicals we are exposed to, experiences we have, nutrition we eat – are all very important for health outcomes. If we want to combat the large burden of chronic diseases, we need to better understand what the drivers are. Without knowing what the sources of those drivers are, we will not be able to devise effective prevention programs.”
In addition, Dr. Hartung proposes to deliver the benefits of Exposome research by emphasizing New Approach Methods, which would avoid subjecting laboratory animals to additional time-consuming and expensive animal testing procedures, generating data of questionable relevance.