ABSTRACT
Nutrition science has broadened into a full range of interests, activities, and knowledge. Nutrigenomics is one of the extents covered by nutritional science. It allows a deeper understanding of metabolism, disease pathophysiology, and health that ultimately could be used to prevent or treat the most common chronic diseases in the world, such as, for instance cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Many promises have been made regarding the potential outcomes of nutrigenomics research, and the scope of such applications is actually striking: Nutrigenomics information is going to be relevant not only for patients but also for healthy individuals and populations. However, it remains unclear and controversial whether nutrigenomics studies and their current or potential applications will actually bene›t populations, in particular vulnerable and underserved populations. Different forces may drive the choice of research priorities and shape the claims that are made when communicating the goals or the results of nutrigenomics studies and applications. Moreover, the assessment of the scienti›c evidence linked to nutrition, genetics/genomics, and health
1.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................1 1.2 Nutrition Science and “Omics” Technologies ..................................................2 1.3 Ethics Core as the Best Assistance ...................................................................4 1.4 Global Health Ethics: Many Worlds, One Ethics?............................................6 1.5 What Are Realistic and Achievable Promises of Nutrigenomics
for Global Health? .............................................................................................8 1.6 Potential Impact of a Debate with Stakeholders ............................................. 10 1.7 Conclusion: A Shift in Thinking .................................................................... 10 References ................................................................................................................ 11
claims is dif›cult. The complexity of global health governance and of potential prevention measures in public and global health based on nutrigenomics knowledge, but also ethical issues relating to social justice and to the risks of stigmatization and discrimination are major challenges both in developed and emerging countries. Moreover, the development of nutrigenomics along with “personalized medicine” may also alter our relation to food, medicalizing food choices and eating behaviors and blurring boundaries between health and disease, and between food and drugs.
