British Journal of Nutrition

Horizons in Nutritional Science

The case for strategic international alliances to harness nutritional genomics for public and personal health

Jim Kaputa1a8 c1, Jose M. Ordovasa2, Lynnette Fergusona3, Ben van Ommena4, Raymond L. Rodrigueza1, Lindsay Allena5, Bruce N. Amesa6, Kevin Dawsona1, Bruce Germana7, Ronald Kraussa6, Wasyl Malyja1, Michael C. Archera9, Stephen Barnesa10, Amelia Bartholomewa8, Ruth Birka11, Peter van Bladerena12, Kent J. Bradforda13, Kenneth H. Browna14, Rosane Caetanoa15, David Castlea16, Ruth Chadwicka17, Stephen Clarkea18, Karine Clémenta19, Craig A. Cooneya20, Dolores Corellaa21, Ivana Beatrice Manica da Cruza22, Hannelore Daniela23, Troy Dustera24, Sven O. E. Ebbessona25, Ruan Elliotta26, Susan Fairweather-Taita26, Jim Feltona27, Michael Fenecha28, John W. Finleya29, Nancy Fogg-Johnsona30, Rosalynn Gill-Garrisona31, Michael J. Gibneya32, Peter J. Gilliesa33, Jan-Ake Gustafssona34, John L. Hartman IVa35, Lin Hea36, Jae-Kwan Hwanga37, Jean-Philippe Jaisa38, Yangsoo Janga39, Hans Joosta40, Claudine Juniena41, Mitchell Kantera42, Warren A. Kibbea43, Berthold Koletzkoa44, Bruce R. Korfa35, Kenneth Kornmana45, David W. Krempina46, Dominique Langina47, Denis R. Laurena3a48, Jong Ho Leea49, Gilbert A. Leveillea50, Su-Ju Lina51, John Mathersa52, Michael Maynea53, Warren McNabba3a54, John A. Milnera55, Peter Morgana56, Michael Mullera57, Yuri Nikolskya58, Frans van der Ouderaaa59, Taesun Parka60, Norma Pensela61, Francisco Perez-Jimeneza62, Kaisa Poutanena63, Matthew Robertsa64, Wim H.M. Sarisa65, Gertrud Schustera66, Andrew N. Shellinga3a67, Artemis P. Simopoulosa68, Sue Southona69, E. Shyong Taia70, Bradford Townea71, Paul Trayhurna72, Ricardo Uauya73, Willard J. Viseka74, Craig Wardena75, Rick Weissa76, John Wienckea77, Jack Winklera78, George L. Wolffa79, Xi Zhao-Wilsona80 and Jean-Daniel Zuckera81

a1 Center of Excellence in Nutritional Genomics, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA

a2 Nutrition and Genomics Laboratory, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA

a3 National Centre for Research Excellence in Nutrigenomics, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

a4 NuGO – TNO Quality of Life, Zeist, The Netherlands

a5 USDA-ARS Western Human Nutrition Research Center at the University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA

a6 Children's Hospital of Oakland Research Institute, Oakland, CA 94609, USA

a7 Department of Food Science and Technology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA

a8 Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

a9 University of Alabama Center for Nutrient–Gene Interactions, University of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama 35294-0005, USA

a10 Laboratory of Nutrigenomic Medicine, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA

a11 Department of Biotechnology Engineering, Ben-Gurion University at the Negev, Beer-Sheeva 84105, Israel

a12 Nestlé Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland

a13 Seed Biotechnology Center, Plant Reproductive Biology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA

a14 Program in International Nutrition, Department of Nutrition University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA

a15 Department of Health Sciences, Universidade Regional do Noroeste do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Rua São Francisco, 501 - Bairro São Geraldo Ijuí - RS - Brasil

a16 Department of Philosophy, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada

a17 ESRC Centre for the Economic and Social Aspects of Genomics (CESAGen), Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YG, UK

a18 McNeil Nutritionals, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

a19 INSERM ‘Avenir’ Nutrition dpt Hôtel-Dieu, EA3502, UMPC Paris 6, France

a20 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA

a21 Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology Unit, School of Medicine, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

a22 Department of Health Sciences, Universidade Regional do Noroeste do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Rua São Francisco, 501 - Bairro São Geraldo Ijuí - RS – Brasil

a23 NuGO – Molecular Nutrition Unit, Technical University of Munich, Hochfeldweg 2, 85350 Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany

a24 Department of Sociology, New York University, NY, NY 10003 and Institute for the Study of Social Change, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-5670, USA

a25 Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA

a26 Institute of Food Research, Norwich NR4 7UA, UK

a27 Biology and Biotechnology Research Program, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA

a28 CSIRO Health Sciences and Nutrition, Adelaide SA, 5000, Australia

a29 AM Todd, Montgomeryville, PA 18936, USA

a30 Life Science Alliance, Villanova, PA 19085, USA

a31 Sciona, Inc., Boulder, CO 80302, USA

a32 NuGO – Nutrition Unit Department of Clinical Medicine, Trinity College, Dublin, Republic of Ireland

a33 Human Health Sciences, DuPont Nutrition & Health, Newark, DE, Centre of Excellence in Nutrigenomics, Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA

a34 Department of Medical Nutrition, Center for Biotechnology, Karolinska Instututet, Novum, SE-141 86, Huddinge, Sweden

a35 Department of Genetics, University of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama 35294-0024, USA

a36 Institute for Nutritional Sciences, SIBS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China

a37 Department of Biotechnology, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea

a38 Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Hôpital Necker Enfants Malades, Université Paris 5, Paris, France

a39 Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea

a40 NuGO – German Institute for Human Nutrition, Potsdam Rehbrücke, Germany

a41 Department of Genetics, Hôpital Necker Enfants Malades, Clinique Maurice Larny, Paris, 75743, France

a42 Cargill, Inc., Wayzata, MN 55305, USA

a43 Center of Genetic Medicine, Center for Functional Genomics, Robert Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, NorthWestern University Medical School, Chicago, IL 60611, USA

a44 Dr von Hauner Children's Hospital, University of Munich, Germany

a45 Interleukin Genetics, Inc., Waltham, MA 02452, USA

a46 Nutrilite Division of Access Business Group, LLC, Buena Park, CA 90622, USA

a47 Obesity Research Unit, Institut Louis Bugnard, French Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm), Toulouse University Hospitals, Paul Sabatier University, 31059 Toulouse, France

a48 HortResearch, Ltd, Hamilton, New Zealand

a49 Department of Food and Nutrition, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea

a50 Food Systems Design, Denville, NJ 07834, USA

a51 Department of Microbiology, Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA

a52 NuGO – Human Nutrition Research Centre, Newcastle University, UK

a53 Institute for Nutrisciences and Health, National Research Council of Canada, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada C1A 5T1

a54 AgResearch Limited, Grasslands Research Centre, Palmerston North, New Zealand

a55 Nutritional Science Research Group, Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

a56 Rowett Research, Greenburn Road, Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB21 9SB, Scotland, UK

a57 NuGO – Dutch Innovative Cluster Nutrigenomics, Wageningen Centre for Food Science and Nutrition, Metabolism and Genomics, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands

a58 GeneGo, Inc., St Joseph, MI 49085, USA

a59 Unilever Corporate Research, Colworth House, Sharnbrook, Beds MK44 1PY, UK

a60 Department of Food and Nutrition, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea

a61 Instituto Tecnología de Alimentos, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), Buenos Aires, Argentina

a62 Hospital Universitario Reina Sofia, Unidad Lipidos & Arteriosclerosis, Cordoba, Spain

a63 Food and Health Research Centre, University of Kuopio, Mediteknia, Box 1627, 70211 KUOPIO, Finland

a64 Purina/Nestle, St Louis, MO, USA

a65 NuGO – Nutrition and Toxicology Research Institute NUTRIM, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands

a66 Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA 95616-8669, USA

a67 Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

a68 The Center for Genetics, Nutrition and Health, Washington, DC 20009, USA

a69 NuGO – Institute of Food Research, Norwich NR4 7UA, UK

a70 Department of Endocrinology, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore 169608, Republic of Singapore

a71 Department of Community Health, Wright State University School of Medicine, Dayton, OH 45401-0927, USA

a72 Obesity Biology Unit, Liverpool Centre for Nutritional Genomics, School of Clinical Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GA, UK

a73 Public Health Nutrition, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, and Instituto de Nutricion y Tecnologia de los Alimentos (INTA), University of Chile, Santiago, Chile

a74 Department of Internal Medicine, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Urbana, IL 61821, USA

a75 Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior Section of Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA

a76 Viocare Technologies, Inc., Princeton, NJ 08542, USA

a77 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Division of Neuroepidemiology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-0112, USA

a78 Food and Health Research, London N1 7AB, UK

a79 National Center for Toxicological Research/FDA, Jefferson, AR 72079, USA

a80 BioMarker Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Campbell, CA 95008, USA

a81 LIM&BIO, EPML-CNRS IAPuces, Universite Paris XIII, 74 rue Marcel Cachin 93017 Bobigny Cedex, France

Abstract

Nutrigenomics is the study of how constituents of the diet interact with genes, and their products, to alter phenotype and, conversely, how genes and their products metabolise these constituents into nutrients, antinutrients, and bioactive compounds. Results from molecular and genetic epidemiological studies indicate that dietary unbalance can alter gene–nutrient interactions in ways that increase the risk of developing chronic disease. The interplay of human genetic variation and environmental factors will make identifying causative genes and nutrients a formidable, but not intractable, challenge. We provide specific recommendations for how to best meet this challenge and discuss the need for new methodologies and the use of comprehensive analyses of nutrient–genotype interactions involving large and diverse populations. The objective of the present paper is to stimulate discourse and collaboration among nutrigenomic researchers and stakeholders, a process that will lead to an increase in global health and wellness by reducing health disparities in developed and developing countries.

(Received June 21 2005)

(Accepted July 05 2005)

(Accepted July 15 2005)

Correspondence:

c1 Corresponding author: Dr Jim Kaput, fax +1 312 829 3357 email jkaput@uic.edu

Footnotes

† This document is an outgrowth of the Bruce Ames International Symposium on Nutritional Genomics held at the University of California, Davis, CA on 22–24 October 2004. The statements and opinions expressed are those of symposium participants and others who are contributing to nutrigenomics or related research fields. The present paper is intended to stimulate discussion about the interplay of nutrition and genetics and the potential of nutrigenomics to improve global health.

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