Identification and comparison of the effects of radon, tobacco smoke and cannabis smoke exposure on the transcriptome of human lung epithelial cells

We exposed lung epithelial cells to low dose radon, tobacco smoke or cannabis smoke for a period of up to four months. Using RNA-Seq, we identified the impact that exposure to these factors had on the transcriptome of cultured lung cells at various time points during the exposure regimens. The goal of this project was to determine if low dose radon impacts the gene expression of lung epithelial cells and to be able to compare any observed effects to those induced by tobacco smoke exposure (established carcinogen) and cannabis smoke exposure (smoke exposure control).