The Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) and a vision for Ecogenomics: the Ecological Genome Project

Bibliographic Details
Title: The Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) and a vision for Ecogenomics: the Ecological Genome Project
Authors: Benjamin Capps, Ruth Chadwick, Zohar Lederman, Tamra Lysaght, Catherine Mills, John J. Mulvihill, William S. Oetting, Ingrid Winship, HUGO Committee on Ethics, Law and Society
Source: Human Genomics, Vol 17, Iss 1, Pp 1-7 (2023)
Publisher Information: BMC, 2023.
Publication Year: 2023
Collection: LCC:Medicine
LCC:Genetics
Subject Terms: Human Genome Organisation, Ecogenomics, Human Genome Project, Determinants of health, One Health, Medicine, Genetics, QH426-470
More Details: Abstract Background The following outlines ethical reasons for widening the Human Genome Organisation’s (HUGO) mandate to include ecological genomics. Main The environment influences an organism’s genome through ambient factors in the biosphere (e.g. climate and UV radiation), as well as the agents it comes into contact with, i.e. the epigenetic and mutagenic effects of inanimate chemicals and pollution, and pathogenic organisms. Emerging scientific consensus is that social determinants of health, environmental conditions and genetic factors work together to influence the risk of many complex illnesses. That paradigm can also explain the environmental and ecological determinants of health as factors that underlie the (un)healthy ecosystems on which communities rely. We suggest that The Ecological Genome Project is an aspirational opportunity to explore connections between the human genome and nature. We propose consolidating a view of Ecogenomics to provide a blueprint to respond to the environmental challenges that societies face. This can only be achieved by interdisciplinary engagement between genomics and the broad field of ecology and related practice of conservation. In this respect, the One Health approach is a model for environmental orientated work. The idea of Ecogenomics—a term that has been used to relate to a scientific field of ecological genomics—becomes the conceptual study of genomes within the social and natural environment. Conclusion The HUGO Committee on Ethics, Law and Society (CELS) recommends that an interdisciplinary One Health approach should be adopted in genomic sciences to promote ethical environmentalism. This perspective has been reviewed and endorsed by the HUGO CELS and the HUGO Executive Board.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 1479-7364
Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/1479-7364
DOI: 10.1186/s40246-023-00560-x
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/c078174a34af464e8d73d1a10f929176
Accession Number: edsdoj.078174a34af464e8d73d1a10f929176
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:14797364
DOI:10.1186/s40246-023-00560-x
Published in:Human Genomics
Language:English