Researchers at the Faculty of Biology at TUD Dresden University of Technology have investigated the interaction between genes and nutrition using the fruit fly as an example. Their results are surprising and show that minimal genetic differences in the mitochondria can cause healthy food to be lethal and unhealthy food to be good. Accordingly, there is no such thing as optimal diet. The new findings could lay the foundation for personalized nutritional recommendations for humans and make a major contribution to public health.
You are what you eat—this old saying could take on a new dimension according to the latest research results from TUD Dresden University of Technology. Biologists led by visiting scientist Dr. Adam Dobson and Prof. Klaus Reinhardt have usedto investigate how differences in nutrition affect the cooperation between the mitochondria and the chromosomes in cells and influence the insects' health.
The researchers further found that these mitochondrial effects occurred with only some, but not all, genetic variants of chromosomal DNA."The differences were so strong that we had to acknowledge that for fruit flies there is no such thing as a healthy or optimal diet," adds Klaus Reinhardt. "Fruit flies and humans not only share a preference for fruit in the warm summer months. We also share important genetic traits, such as mitochondrial genes. In our study, we used two food types, one with a high protein content and the other with a high fat content, which correspond to the common dietary choices of humans. Since thein the cells of humans and flies are very similar, we believe our results will provide important insights for humans," says Adam Dobson.
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