Non-genetic factors are the major cause of chronic diseases, such as cancer and diabetes, yet most recent research has focused on the genetic component. This is largely because the genetic component can be accurately measured by arrays or DNA sequencing in genome-wide association studies. A similar untargeted approach is needed to examine the more important non-genetic factors. This may be achievable through exposome-wide association studies in which we quantify the human 'exposome.' All non-genetic environmental factors mediate their effects on the body through chemicals that alter critical molecules, cells, and physiological processes inside the body. Thus, it would be reasonable to consider the �environment� as the body's internal chemical environment and �exposures� as the amounts of biologically active chemicals in this internal environment. Under this view, exposures are not restricted to chemicals (toxicants) entering the body from air, water, or food, for example, but also include chemicals produced by inflammation, infections, gut flora, and other natural processes. The question becomes how to measure the internal chemical environment as this continually fluctuates during life. I will describe a 'snapshot' approach to quantifying the exposome using various assays based on receptor-activation in cultured cells and mass spectrometry.

Methods to measure the human exposome

248th National Meeting (2014)

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