The Exposome: A Primer

The Exposome: A Primer is the first book dedicated to exposomics, detailing the purpose and scope of this emerging field of study, its practical applications and how it complements a broad range of disciplines. Genetic causes account for up to a third of all complex diseases. (As genomic approaches improve, this is likely to rise.) Environmental factors also influence human disease but, unlike with genetics, there is no standard or systematic way to measure the influence of environmental exposures. The exposome is an emerging concept that hopes to address this, measuring the effects of life-long environmental exposures on health and how these exposures can influence disease.

This systematic introduction considers topics of managing and integrating exposome data (including maps, models, computation, and systems biology), "-omics"-based technologies, and more. Both students and scientists in disciplines including toxicology, environmental health, epidemiology, and public health will benefit from this rigorous yet readable overview.

1. The exposome: purpose, definition, and scope
2. When the genome falls short: limitations of a gene-centric view of health
3. Omic-based technologies and their impact on the exposome
4. The exposome in environmental health sciences and related disciplines
5. Managing and integrating exposome data: maps, models, computation, and systems biology
6. An exposome education: university and community-the practical exposome
7. Staging the exposome: a vision for international collaboration