Transcript Slide 1

The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited
Social and ethical issues arising from
Nutrigenomics
Julian Heyes
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited
The essence of nutrigenomics
Genetic risk factors plus environmental factors
lead to physiological outcomes
• health and wellbeing
• disease
Our lifestyle choices (diet, exercise, smoking etc)
are very important
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited
Genetic risk factors
Small modifications to our genes and
chromosomes:
• single nucleotide polymorphisms
• copy number variants
• epigenetic alterations such as methylation;
exercise reducing telomere shortening
Powerful new technique:
• Genome-wide association scan
• pinpoint genetic risk factors
• type 2 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, breast
cancer...
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited
Dietary modification of risk
Our lifestyle choices (diet, exercise, smoking etc)
are very important:
both for ourselves
and for our children (epigenetics)
Agouti mice: yellow fur, prone to
obesity and diabetes
Added genistein to mother’s diet,
led to increased gene methylation
and increased frequency of
normal offspring
Dolinoy et al. 2006
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited
Nutrigenomics
NEW ZEALAND
Tailoring New
Zealand foods Centre of Excellence in
Nutrigenomics
to match
people’s genes Nutrigenomics New Zealand is
a strategic collaboration
between AgResearch Limited,
The University of Auckland,
and Plant & Food Research.
www.nutrigenomics.org.nz
With a scientific programme
addressing the key areas of
nutrigenomics, the Centre
performs high-quality research
and knowledge transfer in an
international context.
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited
Nutrigenomics New Zealand
Functional SNP, L503F, in Na-dependent Organic Cation
Transporter (OCTN1) is risk factor for Crohn’s in some
populations
Substrate = ergothioneine; particularly high in mushrooms
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited
Dietary preference questionnaires
Petermann et al. 2009
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited
Genotype matters...
Frequency of Crohn’s disease cases with specific genotypes
reporting adverse effects from mushrooms
Petermann et al. 2009
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited
Summary so far
Different individuals respond to foods in different
ways
May affect risk of developing serious maturityonset diseases
Maternal diet may alter children’s disease risk
At present: only a handful of strong associations
known
Guarantee there will be rapid growth in our
knowledge of this area
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited
A public health issue
Apolipoprotein A1 (APOA1) participates in the reverse
transport of cholesterol from tissues to the liver
Individualized nutritional
advice (822 women):
HDL-C (mmol/L)
1.8
1.6
Carriers of the A allele:
 PUFA intake to  HDL
and reduce CVD risk
<4%
4%-8%
>8%
1.4
1.2
1
G/G
G/A
whereas G/G women
should receive the
opposite advice!
A/A
APOA1(-75G/A) Genotype
Ordovas et al. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. (2002)
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited
Some social or ethical issues
Who will advise people about their genetic risk and
possible dietary modifications?
Will employers or insurers want to know and use
this information?
What if screening becomes common:
•
parents’ response at or before birth?
•
right not to be informed... unless risk of
‘serious and imminent harm’
• whose genome? my knowledge affects the
whanau
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited
Commercial gain
Who will benefit from nutrigenomics research?
Proprietary foods: who profits?
Are companies overstating current knowledge?
The burden of knowledge
Will (partial) knowledge lead to unnecessary
lifestyle impoverishment?
Pregnant mums: fetal alcohol syndrome
‘My mother made me a type II diabetic’
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited
Our response?
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited
Acknowledgements
Donald Evans, 2005: Ethics and nutrigenomics;
oral paper at International Conference on
Nutrigenomics and Gut Health, May 1-3 2006.
David Castle and Nola Ries, 2007: Ethical, legal
and social issues in nutrigenomics: the
challenges of regulating service delivery and
building health professional capacity. Mutation
Research 622: 138-143.
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited
www.plantandfood.com
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited