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In [[genetic epidemiology]], an '''envirome''' the total set of environmental factors, both present and past, that affect the state, and in particular the disease state, of an organism.<ref>{{cite web|title=-Omes and -omics glossary & taxonomy|url=http://www.genomicglossaries.com/content/omes.asp|publisher=Cambridge Healthtech Institute|accessdate=25 April 2013}}</ref> The study of the envirome and its effects is termed '''enviromics'''. The term was first coined in the field of psychiatric epidemiology by J.C. Anthony in 1995.<ref name=Gad2008>{{cite book|last=Shayne Cox Gad|title=Preclinical Development Handbook: Toxicology|year=2008|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9780470249048|page=778}}</ref><ref name=Cooper2001>{{cite journal|last=Cooper|first=Brian|title=Nature, nurture and mental disorder: old concepts in the new millennium|journal=The British Journal of Psychiatry|year=2001|volume=178|issue=suppl. 40|pages=91–102|doi=10.1192/bjp.178.40.s91}}</ref> More recently, use of the term has been extended to the cellular domain, where ''cell functional enviromics'' studies both the genome and envirome from a systems biology perspective.<ref name=Teixeira2011>{{cite journal|last=Teixeira|first=Ana P.|coauthors=João ML Dias, Nuno Carinhas, Marcos Sousa, João J Clemente, António E Cunha, Moritz von Stosch, Paula M Alves, Manuel JT Carrondo and Rui Oliveira|title=Cell functional enviromics: Unravelling the function of environmental factors|journal=BMC Systems Biology|year=2011|volume=5|pages=92–108|url=http://www.biomedcentral.com/1752-0509/5/92|accessdate=25 April 2013}}</ref>

==Envirome classification==

While there can be both positive and negative effects of the envirome on the organism, negative effects are often emphasized in discussing disease. A typology of envirome health hazards suggested by McDowall is<ref name=Cooper2001 />

* natural physico-chemical
* man-made physico-chemical
* biological/organic, natural or man-made
* macrosocial
* micro- or psychosocial.

The time-scale of the envirome hazard is another possible dimension of classification; an envirome hazard are said to be a sudden change (such as a disaster), a rapid environmental change, or a slow change or a static situation.<ref name=Cooper2001 /> In twin studies, envirome influences are often decomposed into shared environmental factors, common to both twins and non-shared environmental factors that differ between the twins.<ref name=NEIDERHISER2001>{{cite journal|last=NEIDERHISER|first=JENAE M.|title=Understanding the roles of genome and envirome: methods in genetic epidemiology|journal=The British Journal of Psychiatry|year=2001|volume=178|issue=suppl. 40|pages=s12-s17|doi=10.1192/bjp.178.40.s12}}</ref>

==Gene-environment correlation and interaction==

The effect of an envirome on an organism can be potentially modulated by its genetic makeup, i.e., its genome. The two main ways genes and environment may interact is through genotype-environment correlation and interaction.<ref name=NEIDERHISER2001 /> Genotype-environment correlation occurs because, for example, children both inherit genes from their parents and live under the influence of their parents.<ref name=NEIDERHISER2001 />  In the context of genetic epidemiology, interaction refers to the genes and the environment both participating in a causal way that departs from a simple additive model of the effects.<ref name=Cooper2001 /> An example of a gene environment interaction is the increased risk of getting Alzheimer disease following a head injury in persons carrying the APOE <math>\epsilon 4</math> allele.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Nicoll|first=J.A.|coauthors=Roberts, G. W. & Graham, D. I.|title=Amyloid beta-protein, APOE genotype and head injury (review)|journal=Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences|year=1996|volume=777|pages=271–275}}</ref>

==Criticism==

Some researchers see ''envirome'' as a renaming of the already well-established ''nurture'' component of the nature vs. nurture dichotomy in explaining psychological behavior.<ref name=Cooper2001 /> Steven Rose has argued that in psychiatry, it is time to abandon the genome-envirome dichotomy altogether in favor of an integrative view of a person's life course.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Rose|first=S.|title=Moving on from old dichotomies: beyond nature ^ nurture towards a lifeline perspective|journal=British Journal of Psychiatry|year=2001|volume=178|issue=suppl. 40|pages=s3-s7}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Environmental epidemiology]]
* [[Exposome]]

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

[[Category:Genetic epidemiology]]
[[Category:Psychiatric terminology]]