GeneticEffectsonEnvironmentalVulnerabilitytoDisease

Muchresearchhasattemptedtoshowdirectlinearrelationsbetweengenesanddisorder.However,scientistshavebeendiscouragedbyinconsistentfindingsbasedonthissimplegene-phenotypeapproach.Thealternativeapproachistoincorporateinformationabouttheenvironment.Agene-environmentinteractionapproachassumesthatenvironmentalpathogenscausedisorder,whereasgenesinfluencesusceptibilitytoenvironmentalpathogens.Thisbookbringstogethercontributionsfromexpertsfrommultipledisciplineswhodiscuss:Howepidemiologicalcohortstudiescanbetterintegratephysiological(mechanistic)measures;Howbesttocharacterisesubjects’vulnerabilityversusresiliencebymovingbeyondsinglegeneticpolymorphisms;Howgenehunterscanbenefitfromrecruitingsamplesselectedforknownexposures;Howenvironmentalpathogenscanbeusedastoolsforgenehunting;Howtodealwithpotentialspurious(statistical)interactions,andHowgenescanhelpexplainfundamentaldemographicpropertiesofdisorders(e.g.sexdistribution,ageeffects).