RESEARCH

Research Editorial

Genetic Dietetics: Nutrigenomics and the Future

T
he genomic blueprint of organisms, from viruses to studies can contribute enormously to the definition of
plants and animals, is revealing a detailed molecular optimal diets.” DeBusk and colleagues provide several
and mechanistic understanding of all of life’s pro- compelling examples of ongoing research proving that,
cesses. Functional genomics is translating this informa- indeed, specific genetic polymorphisms in human pop-
tion into the basis for guiding the future of human health ulations change their metabolic response to diet and
and disease. The article on nutritional genomics by De- influence the risk patterns of disease. Nonetheless, the
Busk and colleagues (1) brings this scientific field into the article also reveals the great challenges that must be
context of dietetics and examines its implications for the addressed by basic research as dietetics professionals
future practices of dietetics professionals. Nutrigenomics become central to the personalizing of diet, eyeing a
is not a single field, but is considered the combination of variety of delivered health benefits including disease
two—nutritional genomics and nutritional genetics. Nu- prevention (1).
tritional genomics is establishing the effects of ingested Provocatively, the article suggests how such detailed
nutrients and other food components on gene expres- individual genetic information may influence dietary rec-
sion and gene regulation. Nutritional genetics is iden- ommendations in practice.
tifying human genetic variations that are the cause of
differences in phenotypic responses to diets among hu-
mans. Together, these two approaches promise to de- RESEARCH
liver a critical part of the scientific knowledge needed Basic research into the direct effects of dietary compo-
to understand how diet affects individual humans. The nents on biological processes has only addressed a subset
dietetics profession is certainly well suited to translate of the major metabolic enzymes and structural proteins.
this knowledge into practice. There have been some brilliant successes, notably from
The sequence of the human genome is public informa- the laboratory of Jose Ordovas, PhD (3,4), demonstrating
tion, and the Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms Consor- how genetic variation influences dietary responses in hu-
tium is mapping polymorphic regions of the genome that mans. Nonetheless, studies continue to emerge that high-
control individual phenotypic differences among the hu- light how many more targets of food components need to
man population. The importance of this genetic variation be understood. The discovery of transcription factors that
to the varying needs for and physiological responses to mediate the coordinated responses of large numbers of
particular nutrients was stated by Bruce Ames of the genes to dietary components, such as saturated fats,
National Academy of Sciences of the United States (2): highlight the complexity of the basic research needed (5).
“Missense single nucleotide polymorphisms occur about 1 There will be roles for dietetics in nutritional genomics
in every 1,000 bases in expressed genes, so one expects research. The dietetics profession will be important to
that there will be many more polymorphisms to be found identifying the extent of variations in dietary response
in micronutrient and dietary studies. It is already appar- among human populations in diverse aspects of health.
ent that there are many polymorphisms that influence It was the databanks that documented the variation in
risk in heart disease. Single nucleotide polymorphisms cholesterol in the population and the corresponding
provide a powerful molecular tool for investigating the variations in heart disease that propelled diet and
role of nutrition in human health and disease, and their health research and implementation of the cholesterol
integration into clinical, metabolic, and epidemiologic education program (6). Similarly, these databanks
have served to guide the current successes of nutri-
genomics. Putting in place detailed, quantitative data-
J. B. German is a professor and food chemist, Depart- banks of other aspects of health and their metabolic
ment of Food Science and Technology, University of indicators (eg, C-reactive protein and heart disease;
California, Davis. free fatty acids and insulin resistance) could be
Address correspondence to: J. Bruce German, PhD, achieved, but will only be done well if aided by a com-
Department of Food Science and Technology, University mitment by practicing dietetics professionals.
of California, One Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616-8598.
E-mail: [email protected]
Copyright © 2005 by the American Dietetic TRANSLATION
Association. Dietetics professionals are already well aware that hu-
0002-8223/05/10504-0001$30.00/0 mans differ in their response to different diets. Bringing
doi: 10.1016/j.jada.2005.02.034 detailed mechanistic information of these differences to

530 Journal of the AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION © 2005 by the American Dietetic Association
practice in health management will require a different References
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management will require a systems approach (7) to guide Nutritional genomics in practice: Where do we begin?
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April 2005 ● Journal of the AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION 531