Molecular epidemiology of pregnancy using omics data: advances, success stories, and challenges
Ali Rahnavard, Ranojoy Chatterjee, Hui Wen, Clark Gaylord, Sabina Mugusi, Kevin C. Klatt, Emily R. Smith
Abstract
Multi-omics approaches have been successfully applied to investigate pregnancy and health outcomes at a molecular and genetic level in several studies. As omics technologies advance, research areas are open to study further. Here we discuss overall trends and examples of successfully using omics technologies and techniques (e.g., genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and metagenomics) to investigate the molecular epidemiology of pregnancy. In addition, we outline omics applications and study characteristics of pregnancy for understanding fundamental biology, causal health, and physiological relationships, risk and prediction modeling, diagnostics, and correlations.