Toxicogenomics, the study of how genomes respond to exposure to toxicants, may ultimately hold the promise of detecting changes in the expression of a person's genes if he or she is exposed to these toxicants. As the
technology rapidly develops, it is critical that scientists and the public
communicate about the promises and limitations of this new field. Communicating technical information to the public about a developing science can
be challenging, particularly when the applications of that science are not yet
well understood. The Committee on Communicating Toxicogenomics
Information to Nonexperts designed a workshop to consider strategies for
communicating toxicogenomic information to the public and other nonexpert audiences, specifically addressing the communication of some key
social, ethical, and legal issues related to toxicogenomics and addressing
how information related to the social implications of toxicogenomics might
be perceived by nonexperts