MINI REVIEW article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Environmental Health and Exposome
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1610248
Genetic and epigenetic biomarkers in human biomonitoring: why needed and how can Oxford Nanopore Technology contribute?
Provisionally accepted
- 1Transversal activities in Applied Genomics (TAG), Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium
- 2Epigenetic Epidemiology Lab, Department of Human Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- 3Risk and health impact assessment, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium
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Chemical risk assessment can benefit from integrating informative biomarkers in human biomonitoring (HBM). Beyond exposure biomarkers, effect biomarkers inform on biological reactions in the body, potentially leading to adverse effects, while susceptibility biomarkers address inter-individual variability in exposure. DNA methylation of key genes shows promise as an effect biomarker but this epigenetic mark remains underexplored in the context of chemicals. Similarly, although some genetic polymorphisms are linked to increased chemical susceptibility, genetic biomarkers are rarely included in HBM. This mini-review highlights recent literature supporting the inclusion of genetic and epigenetic biomarkers in HBM. Subsequently, we elaborate on how Oxford Nanopore Technology as sequencing method can efficiently measure these biomarkers simultaneously, even in non-invasive samples like saliva. Widely used in other fields, this experimental set-up could facilitate the design of large-population studies paving the way for a next generation risk assessment (NGRA) of chemicals.
Keywords: susceptibility biomarker, Effect biomarker, SNP, DNA-Methylation, human biomonitoring, Oxford Nanopore Technology, large-population study
Received: 11 Apr 2025; Accepted: 10 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gand, Soubry, Mertens, Roosens and De Keersmaecker. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Sigrid C.J. De Keersmaecker, Transversal activities in Applied Genomics (TAG), Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium
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