Nutrition and genomics.

Abstract

The decoding of the human genome is already being heralded as one of science’s greatest achievements and is viewed as the point of departure for the next generation of life science research to understand human health and cure human disease [1]. However, genomics as a scientific endeavor is not simply the list of nucleotides in the genomes of humans and various other organisms. This new field is bringing a new knowledge base on genes, their functions and regulation. This is promoted by new, multiple and truly remarkable biomolecule-based analytical technologies that are capable of interrogating the functioning of living organisms with a breadth and depth not previously imagined. Additionally, computer-based technologies are spawning an entirely new computation discipline directed towards the mining of biological databases, termed bioinformatics. The various scientific disciplines that seek to develop cures for human diseases are already fully engaged in genomic research. Nutrition, with its goals to improve human health and prevent disease, stands to achieve tremendous advances during this post-genome era. Nutrition enjoyed conspicuous success during the first half of the 20th century, establishing all the major essential nutrients – the vitamins, minerals, amino acids and fatty acids – that are necessary for growth, development and reproduction. The diseases that are associated with a deficiency of each of these nutrients and the quantities of each nutrient necessary to prevent them have been reasonably well described using a variety of animal models and experimental strategies. As Carpenter [2] pointed out in his fascinating series on a short history of nutritional science, many have looked on the developments in the mid 20th century as the ‘golden age of nutrition’, but during the dawn of this 21st century nutrition science now faces a new set of challenges for which the knowledge, tools and strategies of the ‘omics’ will be indispensable. The challenges are not small Allison SP, Go VLW (eds): Metabolic Issues of Clinical Nutrition. Nestlé Nutrition Workshop Series Clinical & Performance Program, vol 9, pp 243–263, Nestec Ltd., Vevey/S. Karger AG, Basel, © 2004.