NUTRITIONAL EPIGENETICS AND GENE EXPRESSION IN ADULTHOOD

Course overview

Disease is the combination of two fundamental factors: genetic susceptibility and environmental influence. Nutrigenomics is the study of the effects of nutrients on gene expression. Assessing an individual¿s risk of developing disease requires an understanding of how environmental factors and genotypes synergize to increase or decrease risk. Nutrients have been shown to directly and indirectly impact the genome and epigenome during development, and evidence suggests the same is true after reaching adulthood. However, the effects nutrients have on the epigenome are variable. Therefore, nutrigenomic studies may provide novel tools for quantifying the risk of developing chronic diseases and help with the development of personalized interventions based on an individual¿s genetic makeup.