This week’s tour through recent research converges with undeniable force on a profound truth: while our genes lay down the initial blueprint, the story of our lives—our health, our achievements, our very potential—is overwhelmingly written by our environment and our choices. Trauma can etch itself onto our epigenome across generations; lifestyle changes can dramatically mitigate even high genetic risks for cardiovascular disease; and, the cumulative impact of our “exposome” vastly outweighs genetics in predicting overall mortality. If genetics isn't destiny, merely the starting point, then the crucial question then becomes: if our environment and behaviors hold such immense power, how can we precisely understand and leverage this interplay to consciously shape wealthier, healthier, happier lives for everyone?

This question lies at the heart of a groundbreaking new initiative at The Human Trust, the nonprofit data trust I’ve cofounded. We are embarking on an ambitious project to build a novel AI foundation model – a sophisticated system combining Large Language Models (LLMs) and Reinforcement Learning (RL) – trained on a unique biobank of matched epigenetic, exposome, and behavioral data. This model's purpose is not just to passively observe patterns but to actively map the complex, dynamic relationship between our life choices, targeted interventions, and long-term outcomes. By learning from vast, anonymized datasets, our AI will help us decipher precisely how specific actions and precision "wellness" interventions today can influence trajectories towards or away from critical endpoints later in life.

Initially, we will focus this powerful lens on 3 devastating conditions—breast cancer, depression, and Alzheimer's disease—seeking predictive insights and personalized intervention strategies. But our scope extends beyond disease prevention. We will simultaneously map how these same bio-behavioral factors influence crucial pillars of human flourishing: educational attainment, lifetime income, and even innovation. Understanding how a specific diet changes, tailored stress-management techniques, or novel holistic learning interventions, implemented early in a life, can demonstrably alter not just disease risk decades later, but also educational success and economic mobility. This is the promise: moving beyond generalized advice to truly personalized, predictive wellness that optimizes the entire human experience.

This work has the potential to revolutionize preventative healthcare, transform educational strategies, and fundamentally reshape our understanding of human potential, empowering individuals with unprecedented agency over their own life paths. But building such a complex, ethically grounded model requires significant resources and collaboration. The Human Trust is committed to ensuring this technology serves humanity equitably. We invite you to join us in this critical mission—whether through funding, data partnerships, or research collaboration—to help build a future where everyone has the knowledge and tools to navigate their biological starting point and create their best possible life story. Learn more and get involved at www.thehumantrust.org.

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Research Roundup

Tragedy Echoes

Trauma's echo across generations isn't just psychological, it's biological. War-related violence left its mark on the epigenetics not just of children but even grandchild’s epigenome is changed.

Among Syrian refugees, grandmothers’ exposure to violence during pregnancy leaves specific epigenetic marks not just on their children but even on their grandchildren, distinct from direct or prenatal exposure effects. Even worse, prenatal trauma accelerates epigenetic aging.

Genetics lays the foundation, but our environment – even our ancestors' environments – writes on top of it, shaping our biology and life trajectory. It's not "just in your head," it's etched into our epigenome. Genetics isn't destiny; our lived experiences, and how we respond to them, truly matter.

Genetics is the beginning of our journey, not the destination.

“Bad Genes” don’t seal your fate for heart disease! New research shows those with high genetic risk actually get bigger benefits from healthy lifestyle changes (like diet & exercise), especially for preventing early-onset disease.

Lifestyle changes lead to a “14.7-fold greater reduction in incidence rates of early-onset coronary artery disease…in high than low genetic risk” individuals. “Ischemic stroke and late-onset coronary artery disease” also saw nearly 3-fold higher reductions in high-risk groups, with even larger benefits for younger adults.

More powerful proof that genetics isn't destiny! This highlights the dynamic interplay between our biology and our choices. High genetic risk isn't a life sentence; it's often a sign that your lifestyle interventions will be even more effective. This interaction is precisely what we need to understand to design personalized wellness programs that truly empower individuals to shape their own health outcomes.

[Addendum: And if health doesn't excite you, think about other areas in which "genetic predisposition" might feel like the end of the story: constructive risk-taking, resilience, perspective taking, and more. I've heard some VC say of aspiring founders, "You've either got it or you don't." (btw, I've heard exactly the same thing from English professors about their students.) But here we see that effortful development can dramatically change one's potential.]

Define "Exposome"

The exposome refers to the totality of all environmental exposures an individual encounters throughout their entire life, starting from conception. It's essentially the environmental counterpart to the genome. And it tells a story…

A new UK Biobank study crunched the numbers with“an exposome*-wide analysis of all-cause mortality” spanning 492,567 people. While genetics plays a role (esp. for some cancers & dementias), the 'exposome' (all our environmental exposures) explained 17% more variation in all-cause mortality than polygenic risk scores (<2% added)! For lung, heart, & liver disease, the environment was king.

This is a powerful quantification of how our life choices and exposures matter vastly more to overall longevity and many major diseases than the genetic starting point for specific illnesses. Your environment sculpts your health trajectory far more than we often assume. Your choices and environment write the bulk of our story.

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SciFi, Fantasy, & Me

I finished relistening to Alastair Reynolds’s The Prefect, set in the uber epic universe of his “Revelation Space” series. I’m reminded on how much I need big ideas to fire my imagination. Unfortunately, big idea writers often fail at character and plot, and great writers can be so focused on character development that their settings just seem impressionistic. I love books where I feel the world and characters are equally developed. Reynolds’ books scratch this itch for me.

Stage & Screen

• May 7, Chicago: Innovation, Collective Intelligence, and the Information-Exploration Paradox
• May 8, Porto: Talking about entrepreneurship at the SIM conference in Portugal
• May 14, London: it time for my semi-annual lecture at UCL.
• June 12, SF: Golden Angels
• June 9, Philadelphia: "How to Robot-Proof Your Kids" with Big Brothers, Big Sisters!
• June 18, Cannes: Cannes Lyons
• Late June, South Africa: Finally I can return. Are you in SA? Book me!
• October, UK: More med school education

If your company, university, or conference just happen to be in one of the above locations and want the "best keynote I've ever heard" (shockingly spoken by multiple audiences last year)?

Vivienne L'Ecuyer Ming