Epigenetic toxicology

Throughout our lives, epigenetic processes shape our development and enable us to adapt to a constantly changing environment.
Recognizing and understanding environmental epigenetic changes, which can also lead to adverse health outcomes, is crucial to protecting our health, also and especially with regard to the diseases of the 21st century.

The IGL laboratory therefore investigates the current understanding of epigenetic mechanisms in the human life cycle, evaluates the current evidence of environmental induced epigenetic toxicity in human cells, and makes the research and implications of this knowledge of toxicological regulation for health available to physicians.

Many hundreds of studies have investigated this toxicity, but relatively few have practically demonstrated a mechanistic association between specific environmental influences, epigenetic changes and adverse health outcomes in human somatic cells.

Closely linked to our routine and research results, which we also cross-check with American institutions and process in our own database, this aspect of research sets a precedent for the existence of environmental epigenetic toxicity, while the remaining part of the international research on the evidence consists largely of exploratory in-vivo high-dose studies.
As a result, there is a worldwide recognition of this phenomenon and a discussion on how further scientific research can lead to a greater mechanistic understanding of environmental epigenetic toxicity in humans and how to translate relevant research findings into suitable regulatory guidelines for effective health protection.
At this point our starting point is precisely described, as we summarize the routine diagnostic results of our work and investigate in daily results whether and which regulatory mechanisms show an epigenetic evidence.