Reviews & Analysis

The relationship between genes and the environment can be compared to a loaded gun and its trigger. A loaded gun by itself causes no harm; it is only when the trigger is pulled that the potential for harm is released. Genetic susceptibility creates an analogous situation, where the loaded gun is one or a combination of susceptibility genes (alleles) and the trigger is an environmental exposure. The key objective of the Environmental Genome Project is to identify alleles that confer susceptibility to the adverse effects of environmental agents. Here we discuss the goals of the Environmental Genome Project, its implications and, in particular, its potential effect on our ability to assess human disease risk in the future.

We stand at the threshold of a new century, with the whole human genome stretched out before us. Messages from science, the popular media, and the stock market suggest a world of seemingly limitless opportunities to improve human health and productivity. But at the turn of the last century, science and society faced a similar rush to exploit human genetics. The story of eugenics — humankind's first venture into a `gene age' — holds a cautionary lesson for our current preoccupation with genes.