The promises of toxicogenomics have led to the establishment of various national centers for toxicogenomics. For instance, in 2000 the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences created the National Center for Toxicogenomics (NCT), whose mission is to coordinate a nationwide research effort for the development of a toxicogenomics knowledge base. Similarly, in the Netherlands the Netherlands Genomics Initiative (NGI) was established in 2001 by the Dutch government to formulate and execute a clearly focused national genomics strategy aimed at capturing a leading position in scientific and industrial genomics within the next five years.

At present, the following main research challenges are seen with respect to the use of genomic data in risk assessment (Balbus 2005, EPA 2004, Henry et al. 2002; Schmidt 2002, WHO 2001):

• linking genomic data to adverse outcomes of exposure to toxic compounds.
• developing reliable high-throughput screening technologies for genomic data, i.e. gene expression changes
• handling and interpreting massively increased amounts of genomic data
• validating the predictability of genomic data for adverse health effects, and improving the characterization of these data with respect to their sensitivity and specificity
• demonstrating how genomic data can reduce uncertainties in risk assessment associated with animal-to-human extrapolation
• developing of data quality standards based on performance of microarrays, as well as other genomics technologies
• establishing guidelines for genomic studies in humans and to critically evaluate whether and under what conditions such experimentation is warranted.

To our knowledge, at present there is little known on how toxicogenomics-based risk assessments will affect the ways in which patients and the lay-public in general perceive and understand the associated data and how communication must be tailored to avoid misinterpretations. Even the projects under the umbrella of ELSA have never touched upon any aspects of toxicogenomics (see Cordis, Biotech), and national research programmes on genomics and society are currently more focussed on genomics with respect to food and agriculture, sustainability, and the aging human society (Genomics Momentum 2004, German Genome Project 2004, Gen Au 2005).

Nevertheless, our project can learn from the growing body of research into risk perception and predictive testing (Reitz et al. 2004), from studies on education of genetics for health professionals (Burton 2003), from research into public understanding of genomic science (Barns et al. 2000) as well as from relevant surveys (Voss 2000, Pew Research Center 2002).