Environmental risks can be predicted.

Studies at the University of Washington investigating the interaction between genes and environmental exposure to chemicals are bringing researchers closer to predicting who may be more susceptible to certain diseases--and why. Directed by Arno Motulsky, professor of medicine and genetics, they are focusing on genetic factors that predispose some people to diseases such as lung cancer, pesticide poisoning, and alcohol-related birth defects.

The researchers are pioneering an approach called ecogenetics--a new field of medical research that combines epidemiology, toxicology, and genetics to track interaction between genes and environmental agents. "We all have a different genetic make-up. Understanding why and how people react differently to the same environmental factors can help us predict, and eventually test for the potential to develop certain diseases."

Being examined are differences in the ways people process environmental agents. Preliminary results in the lung cancer study indicate that a form of an enzyme called glutathione transferase (which helps the body dispose of tobacco byproducts) is found normally in only about half of the population. The researchers suspect that people who lack the active enzyme may have a greater chance of developing lung cancer from smoking.

One outgrowth of recent genetic...