25 September 2020
The mathematical formula for our state of being reads rather simple: genes plus environment equals our health score. We’ve sequenced our genes to identify the genetic component of disease, but the environment remains the biggest unknown part of our health equation. Until now. Utrecht researchers, affiliated to Exposome-NL, are starting to systematically sequence the environmental factors influencing our health – mapping out the outside world as well as the miniature worlds existing, for instance, in our intestinal tracts. Decoding life. One block at a time.
The environment we live in has a dominant impact on our health. It explains an estimated seventy percent of the chronic disease burden. Where we live, what we eat, how much we exercise, the air we breathe and whom we associate with; all of these environmental factors play a role. The combination of these factors over the life course is called the exposome. There is general (scientific) consensus that understanding more about the exposome will help explain the current burden of disease and that it provides entry points for prevention and ...
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