[Food as Medicine] Food and our genome

What are genes and why are they important for health?

CHIARA MURGIA : video transcript

Instructions to build and maintain an organism, including a human being, are contained in its DNA. DNA's an amazing molecule(분자). It contains all the information to achieve these complex tasks. And because it's able to replicate itself, it's able to transfer the information across the generation. DNA is a long repetition of these four basic components. We call them nucleotides. The sequence order of nucleotides contain itself, the genetic information. A gene is a portion of DNA and corresponds to a unit of inheritance. Each gene carries the information to assemble a specific protein. So a gene has the information to assemble specific, one or more proteins. But the other way around is not true. So you can go back and get the information of DNA sequence from a protein. Scientists call this the central dogma(독단적인 학설). We call genome an organism's complete genetic information, contained in its DNA. Each cell of an organism has an identical, complete molecule of DNA containing all the information to be build that one organism.

Scientists were able to identify all the human genes. There are about 20,000, much less than we thought. And we also call it the most oldest sequence. It doesn't actually contain genes. And we still cannot make sense of the role of all these non-coding DNA. And understanding the role of what we call the dark side of the human genome. It's probably the next big challenge. We understand now that partially the roll of these are non-coding DNA is to regulates gene activity. But there's still a lot we are learning.

Describing genes

Genes are units of inheritance(상속된) and are responsible for carrying genetic information from one generation to another. This means you inherit your genes from both your mother and father (and they inherit it from their mother and father and so forth), and the information stored in your genes is what makes you – you.

Genes are sections of DNA, and one whole copy of DNA includes all the genes to make instructions for you. DNA provides the instructions to turn a one-cell embryo into a 100 trillion – cell (yes that is how many cells are in your body) adult. These instructions include how the body deals with and responds to pathogens, specific foods, pollutants and other elements of your environment.

Genes mostly hold instructions to make proteins in the body.

This is important for health as proteins and enzymes are involved in many body processes. If individuals either lack the genes or have faulty genes coding, instructions for certain proteins or enzymes then this may have detrimental effects for health.

99.9% of all our genetic material is identical in humans, which is what identifies us as a species. The 0.1% of our genetic material is different from person to person is what makes each person unique (causing differences in things like our metabolic rate, hair and eye colour, height and also our nutrition needs).

These differences between people are called gene variations or polymorphisms.

Gene variations are important to consider when thinking about health. Some gene variations may cause rare diseases (and are often referred to as mutations), while others are more common (and are just described as polymorphisms).

Gene mutations and polymorphisms may interact with other genes and with factors in our environment (including diet, smoking, physical activity etc), to play a role in the development of complex disease such as Type 2 diabetes, asthma, cardiovascular disease.

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The Human Genome Project

CHIARA MURGIA : video transcript

---(중략) More than 99% percent of DNA sequence between any two human individuals is identical. So the only part that varies is less than 1%. But this part is very important. It's the part that makes us individuals. It makes you have blue eyes and me have brown eyes, but also impacts the way we are predisposed(경향이있는) to acquire diseases. And also, we know now that it impacts the way we respond to diet. And that's what is really interesting in the nutrition field. We know now that no every two individuals have the same requirements. And that's because there are differences in terms of gene variations.

Another level of complexity is added by the regulation of the genome activity-- biochemical modification of DNA. This is, in part, regulated by the environment, including our diet. We call this level of regulation epigenetics(후천적인). It's also important to keep in mind that genetic information is just one piece of the puzzle of an individual when it comes to health. Lifestyle and environmental factors, such as diet and pollution exposure, are essential to consider as well.

https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=3378922&cid=47339&categoryId=47339

게놈 프로젝트

https://blog.naver.com/rawlife125/221881025418

DNA 발견 이후 유전자와 진화론에 대한 증거 그리고 인간게놈 프로젝트

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What our genes can tell us

CHIARA MURGIA : video transcript

Genetic tests are becoming increasingly available. There's a new one every day. Some of them already impact in the practice of medicine. For example, we can test for genes that increase the risk of colon cancer. And if a carrier of one of these mutations asks for advice, it can be given out, personalized advice of increasing the frequency of colonoscopy(결장내시술) screenings, and also to modify the diet accordingly. For example, decreasing the amount of meat consumed.

Understanding the role of these variations(변화) that scientists call polymorphins held the promise to make us understand the individual requirements and individual predispositions to diseases, individual responses to drugs, and of course, individual nutritional requirements. The availability of all this information has impacted deeply all the branches of biomedical research. And it's really affecting the way medicine is practiced in several fields.

Studying inheritable rare metabolic conditions, such as some rare form of obesity, led to understanding genes that are involved in energy regulation. For example, we know now that the leptin gene that have the information to assemble the hormone leptin, if it's mutated, if there is an error in that gene, the individuals that carry that mutation become, very early in life, severely obese. This is a very rare event. The vast majority of obesity is the result of a large number of gene variations that are affected also by diet and lifestyle.

Despite the incredible amount of progress in the understanding of the human genetics, most complex conditions are still unclear. For example, it's way too early for genome scans to provide a complete picture of individual risk to metabolic conditions, like such obesity, and also type 2 diabetes. We don't know all the gene variations that contribute to the development of those pathologies(병리학). And most of the variations we know-- we know quite a few now-- increase the risk of the pathology of a very small amount.

So this is leading us to understanding how different people can respond to different dietary advice. And so it could be the end of the one size fits all way to the recommendation. And although we still have a long road to go to make this happen, this is a really exciting new field of nutrition science. We call this nutrigenetics, or nutrigenomics, or more generally, nutritional genomics.

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Food, nutrition and our genes

MELISSA ADAMSKI : video transcript

So nutritional genomics is a new area of science, and it's an incredibly important one to consider for the world of nutrition, because nutritional genomics looks at how our genes, nutrition, and health all interact, and it has the potential to really revolutionize the world of nutrition. As we learn more, we may be able to personalize an individual's nutrition requirements, specifically to that individual. Which is pretty exciting, because at the moment, what we've mainly got are nutrition recommendations that are basically a one size fits all.

The first area of interest is nutrigenetics(영양유전학). And this area looks at genes and our genetic variations, and how these may guide our nutrient requirements, or the amount of nutrients that we as an individual need for good health. Secondly, we have nutrigenomics(영양유전체학). And nutrigenomics looks at the foods that we consume, or the nutrients that we take into our body, and how that can affect gene expression, or the information that our genes put out. And finally, we have epigenetics(후생적인). And epigenetics is a second layer of instructions that sits just on top of the instructions that our DNA puts out. And this second layer of instructions can be affected by our environment, such as nutrition, the way we exercise, environmental toxins, and things like that.

 

So as you can see, nutritional genomics is an interesting area, but one that's incredibly complex, because there's so many different facets that we need to consider about how genes, nutrition, and health all interact. At the moment, there are many people who are really excited about this space and are starting to look at how they can implement that information into their daily eating habits. So how can we use food as medicine to start to affect our gene health, or our DNA health. But because it's a new area of science, there's still a lot that we need to learn, especially about how we can use nutrigenetics, or nutritional genomics, to tailor our nutrition recommendations.

So while there are a lot of genetic tests out there that are currently saying that you can use this information to enhance your diet specifically for you, and there may be some health care professional starting to use this space, there is still a lot of ways that you can optimize the health of your DNA without getting bogged down in a lot of that detail, because there's still a lot we don't know, and it is a gray area. So some simple things that you can start to do are looking at specific nutrient rich foods to understand how these nutrients can affect your DNA health.

There are many ways that we can start to use foods to help optimize the health of our DNA. There are three main areas that you can start to consider If you're looking to use foods as medicine, in regards to nutritional genomics. First thing, we have a group of foods rich in nutrients that help to prevent DNA damage. Now DNA damage is important to prevent, because damage to our DNA, such as mutations, can lead on to more serious health conditions, such as chronic disease or cancers. So having a diet rich in nutrients, such as carotenoids, as you can see from our brightly colored orange, yellow, and red foods, and our dark green leafy vegetables, and foods rich in vitamin E, such as ours seeds, and nuts, and our avocado, these foods can help to prevent DNA damage from occurring.

Now, let's look at foods that are important for the making of DNA, or DNA synthesis. So foods rich in nutrients, such as folate(엽산의), you can see here once again our dark green leafy vegetables, but then also our pulses or legumes. We also have a number of fruits, such as oranges just are a source of folate. And also whole grain foods, which in some countries are fortified with folic acid. And next, we have vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 is found mainly in animal based foods, such as dairy products, eggs, seafood, meats. And we also have zinc, which is found in many of these foods as well, but also in things such as wheat germ, pumpkin seeds, and nuts. Finally, we have magnesium. There are a number of magnesium rich foods, such as cocoa. Dark chocolate is the source of magnesium. We have bananas and avocados. Now, please remember that these are just a few examples of some of the key foods rich in these nutrients. And there may be others, but we've decided to highlight just a couple of the main ones for you.

Finally, we have foods rich in nutrients that are incredibly important for DNA repair. Now, DNA repair is a very important mechanism in the body, because the body has the ability to repair areas, or mutations, that may have occurred due to DNA damage. And so we want these to be functioning well. And there are a number of key supporting nutrients that can assist with DNA repair. So we have nutrients such as vitamin B3, or niacin, and that's found in foods such as peanuts, sunflower seeds, mushrooms, and some animal products, such as chicken. We also have folate again, so our green leafy vegetables, a number of fruits, and fortified whole grains.

As you can see, there are a wide variety of foods rich in key nutrients that can support the health of our DNA. It's important to remember that it's not just about the nutrients in foods though, so just taking a supplement of some of these key nutrients may not provide the same benefits as eating foods rich in these nutrients. And that's because foods do contain so much more than the nutrients that we all know about. There are so many unknown properties of foods, such as our bioactive molecules, our antioxidants, and our polyphenols, et cetera, that we're only just starting to learn more about.

So while we've learned a lot about genetic variations, or variations in our genes that make us all individuals. It is important to consider that the research is only just beginning in this space. If you're interested in genetics and health, may be thinking, well, according to my genes, should I be eating more or less of a certain nutrient, and is increasing a diet rich in these nutrients really the right thing to do for me? But remember that the research in this space is only in its early stages, and we still need to learn a lot more before we can make specific dietary recommendations to everybody out there based on their genetics. What we can do is make sure that we're having a balanced healthy diet, and increasing our consumption of foods rich in nutrients that support DNA health.

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Food and our genome

You’ve explored food, nutrition and the role genes play in our health and wellbeing. It’s now your turn to reflect and share your thoughts with other learners.

Talking point

Within the Discussion, consider sharing with other learners your thoughts on food and our genome.

• What nutrient-rich foods do you eat (or are now planning to eat) that optimise the health of your DNA, prevent DNA damage and assist the synthesis and repair of your DNA?

• Do you think there are any issues associated with modifying your diet based on your genetic make-up?

Don’t forget to contribute to the discussion by reviewing comments made by other learners, making sure you provide constructive feedback and commentary.

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• Reference 

Food as Medicine from Future Learn. free courses https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/food-as-medicine

Food As Medicine Online Nutrition Course - FutureLearn

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