scholarly journals The Exposome: A New Frontier for Education

2016 ◽  
Vol 78 (7) ◽  
pp. 542-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristine K. Dennis ◽  
Dean P. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Youth Development ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Genome Project ◽  
Biological Responses ◽  
Career Opportunities ◽  
New Frontier ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Nature Vs Nurture ◽  
The Human Genome Project ◽  
External Exposures

The historic debate of nature vs. nurture has emerged as a central yin-yang of contemporary health and disease research. The Human Genome Project provided the capability to define the nature of an individual by one's genetic sequence. But tools are not available to sequence lifelong exposures (i.e., the nurture of an individual). Many believe that nurture has an even greater role than genetics in determining lifelong success, health, and well-being. In contemporary terminology, the cumulative measure of environmental influences and associated biological responses throughout the life span is termed the exposome. This includes all external exposures from the environment, diet, behavior, societal influences and infections, and also cumulative biological responses to exposures and endogenous processes. Pursuit of a “Human Exposome Project” is a vision worthy of our youth: development of strategies and tools will require the brightest and most imaginative. Incorporation of the exposome into education curricula will foster discussion, development of interest, improvement of skills, and promotion of critical thinking to prepare students for civically engaged lives, ongoing study, and future career opportunities. The long-term vision is that sequencing the exposome will support better understanding of healthful and harmful lifelong exposures and lead to improved opportunity for the health and prosperity of all.

scholarly journals CSCI DISTINGUISHED SCIENTIST LECTURE: Chromatin remodeling: The interface between extrinsic cues and the genetic code?

2008 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shereen Ezzat
Keyword(s):  
Dna Sequence ◽  
Genome Project ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Early Screening ◽  
New Era ◽  
Genetic Codes ◽  
Extrinsic Cues ◽  
Nature Vs Nurture ◽  
The Human Genome Project

The successful completion of the human genome project ushered a new era of hope and skepticism. However, the promise of finding the fundamental basis of human traits and diseases appears less than fulfilled. The original premise was that the DNA sequence of every gene would allow precise characterization of critical differences responsible for altered cellular functions. The characterization of intragenic mutations in cancers paved the way for early screening and the design of targeted therapies. However, it has also become evident that unmasking genetic codes alone cannot explain the diversity of disease phenotypes within a population. Further, classic genetics has not been able to explain the differences that have been observed among identical twins or even cloned animals. This new reality has re-ignited interest in the field of epigenetics. While traditionally defined as heritable changes that can alter gene expression without affecting the corresponding DNA sequence, this definition has come into question. The extent to which epigenetic change can also be acquired in response to chemical stimuli represents an exciting dimension in the “nature vs nurture” debate. In this review I will describe a series of studies in my laboratory that illustrate the significance of epigenetics and its potential clinical implications.

scholarly journals The Exposome Approach in Allergies and Lung Diseases: Is It Time to Define a Preconception Exposome?

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (23) ◽  
pp. 12684
Author(s):  
Juan Pablo López-Cervantes ◽  
Marianne Lønnebotn ◽  
Nils Oskar Jogi ◽  
Lucia Calciano ◽  
Ingrid Nordeide Kuiper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lung Diseases ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Respiratory Health ◽  
Environmental Exposures ◽  
Multiple Exposures ◽  
Biological Responses ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Human Reproductive ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
External Exposures

Emerging research suggests environmental exposures before conception may adversely affect allergies and lung diseases in future generations. Most studies are limited as they have focused on single exposures, not considering that these diseases have a multifactorial origin in which environmental and lifestyle factors are likely to interact. Traditional exposure assessment methods fail to capture the interactions among environmental exposures and their impact on fundamental biological processes, as well as individual and temporal factors. A valid estimation of exposure preconception is difficult since the human reproductive cycle spans decades and the access to germ cells is limited. The exposome is defined as the cumulative measure of external exposures on an organism (external exposome), and the associated biological responses (endogenous exposome) throughout the lifespan, from conception and onwards. An exposome approach implies a targeted or agnostic analysis of the concurrent and temporal multiple exposures, and may, together with recent technological advances, improve the assessment of the environmental contributors to health and disease. This review describes the current knowledge on preconception environmental exposures as related to respiratory health outcomes in offspring. We discuss the usefulness and feasibility of using an exposome approach in this research, advocating for the preconception exposure window to become included in the exposome concept.

Genetic Screening and Disability Insurance: What Can We Learn from the Health Insurance Experience?

2007 ◽  
Vol 35 (S2) ◽  
pp. 66-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Kass ◽  
Amy Medley
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Testing ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Disability Insurance ◽  
Genome Project ◽  
Health Providers ◽  
Testing Technology ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Risk Of Disease ◽  
The Human Genome Project ◽  
Genetic Contributions

The Human Genome Project has allowed researchers to gain new insights into the genetic causes of health and disease. With this knowledge comes the potential to develop new genetic tests that are capable of predicting the risk of disease or disability among presently healthy individuals. This information is potentially beneficial in that it may allow individuals to develop strategies to reduce their risk of illness and may allow health providers to recognize and treat the early stages of disease more effectively. As knowledge about genetic contributions to disease continues to grow and genetic testing technology becomes more widespread, there is a risk that personal genetic information could be used in ways potentially concerning to consumers. Genetic testing technology could potentially be used to discriminate against individuals in terms of their ability to obtain health, life, and disability insurance. Decreased access to insurance, in turn, significantly hinders access to health care and income for oneself and/or for one's dependent(s).

Positive risk-taking: Mixed-methods validation of a self-report scale and evidence for genetic links to personality and negative risk-taking

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Wales Patterson ◽  
Lilla Pivnick ◽  
Frank D Mann ◽  
Andrew D Grotzinger ◽  
Kathryn C Monahan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Youth Development ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Sensation Seeking ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Personality Factors ◽  
Positive Behaviors ◽  
Adolescent Risk

Adolescents are more likely to take risks. Typically, research on adolescent risk-taking has focused on its negative health and societal consequences. However, some risk-taking behaviors might be positive, defined here as behavior that does not violate the rights of others and that might advance socially-valuable goals. Empirical work on positive risk-taking has been limited by measurement challenges. In this study, we elicited adolescents’ free responses (n = 75) about a time they took a risk. Based on thematic coding, we identified positive behaviors described as risks and selected items to form a self-report scale. The resulting positive risk-taking scale was quantitatively validated in a population-based sample of adolescent twins (n = 1249). Second, we evaluated associations between positive risk-taking, negative risk-taking, and potential personality and peer correlates using a genetically informed design. Sensation seeking predicted negative and positive risk-taking equally strongly, whereas extraversion differentiated forms of risk-taking. Additive genetic influences on personality accounted for the total heritability in positive risk-taking. Indirect pathways from personality through positive and negative peer environments were identified. These results provide promising evidence that personality factors of sensation seeking and extraversion can manifest as engagement in positive risks. Increased understanding of positive manifestations of adolescent risk-taking may yield targets for positive youth development strategies to bolster youth well-being.

Calling Social Work to the Movement for Educational Justice

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annahita Ball
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Educational Justice ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Conditions For Learning ◽  
History Of

Abstract The persistent and systemic inequities within the U.S. public education system have grave implications for children’s and youth’s outcomes, yet these inequities go far beyond academics. Marginalized and vulnerable students experience injustices across the educational system, including disproportionality in school discipline, unequal access to advanced courses, and poor conditions for learning. Social work has a solid history of addressing issues that intersect across families, schools, and communities, but the profession has had little engagement in the recent educational justice movement. As educational scholars advance a movement to address educational inequities, it will be increasingly important for social work researchers to provide valuable insight into the multiple components that make up youth development and support positive well-being for all individuals within a democratic society. This article encourages social work researchers to extend lines of inquiry that investigate educational justice issues by situating social work practice and research within educational justice and suggesting an agenda for future social work research that will advance equity for all students.

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