The Science Philanthropy Alliance has set out to highlight key areas of potential in basic science research through their XO (eXtraordinary Opportunities) files. The XO files focus on case studies selected for their “extraordinary intellectual and social potential”, demonstrating areas in need of visionary long term philanthropic support.
“Mapping the Human Exposome” is the first of two case studies highlighted by the Science Philanthropy Alliance.
Photo credit: XO Files Mapping the Human Exposome
The XO files underline the true potential of science when we combine the cutting edge of research with an ambitious yet achievable vision for the human exposome.
Quite apart from the fundamental knowledge of how genes and environmental factors interact to influence human illness or capacity, the potential of identifying a person’s lifetime exposure history from a sample of blood, quickly and cheaply—like the $1100 tests for an individual gene map now available—is a tantalizing prospect.