ABSTRACT
Nutrigenomics refers to the application of genomics in nutrition research, enabling associations to be made between specific nutrients and genetic factors, e.g. the ways in which foods or food ingredients influence gene expression. Nutrigenetics is the study of individual differences at the genetic level influencing response to diet. These individual differences may be at the level of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), i.e. variations in a single base pair, rather than at the gene level. To some extent the terms are used interchangeably and from this point on I shall use the term nutrigenomics, abbreviated to ngx.
Ngx should facilitate greater understanding of how nutrition affects metabolic pathways and how this process goes awry in diet-related diseases. How this understanding can be implemented in practice, however, is a matter of considerable debate. When potential applications in society have been discussed, attention has been focused on personalised nutrition, on the one hand – it has been envisaged that nutrigenetics may lead to dietary advice targeted at individuals – and public health, on the other. Ngx might be involved both in public health strategies to reduce the incidence of obesity or of diseases in which diet plays a part, such as diabetes; and in individual dietary decisions, whether or not on the basis of professional advice, to achieve specific goals, e.g. avoidance of allergy or enhancement of health. There may also be applications not integrally connected with health: sportspersons, for example, may want to achieve particular targets with diet. There are ethical issues common to all of these: the conditions under which genetic testing should be offered, the control of the information acquired (who has access to it and what interests need to be protected) and the potential implications for the relationship between individuals and the food they eat. In this regard the potential use of ngx for aesthetic purposes is also worthy of consideration: for example, there may be applications relating to taste and appreciation of food – which could also have health-related sideeffects, such as enhancement of taste experiences for those who need to be encouraged
to eat more. This may be useful in designing food products for particular population groups: elderly persons, for example, may have specific needs in this regard (Raats et al. 2008). Potential applications of ngx are not, however, confined to human beings: ngx for other species, including pet ngx, are already under way (Lopatin 2008).
