The field of nutrition is currently undergoing a transformative shift, with personalisation taking centre stage.
At the vanguard of this change is biotechnology – it has helped scientists move nutrition science off a one-size-fits-all strategy to a more holistic and personalised approach. As a result, it has become more effortless for people to get tailored dietary recommendations for optimised health.
At its core, biotechnology encompasses the use of biological systems, living organisms, or their derivatives to develop products, processes, and technologies that improve human health and quality of life — and its applications in the nutrition space are expanding rapidly. A solid grasp of the foundational principles of biotechnology helps illustrate why this field is so uniquely positioned to revolutionise how we understand individual dietary needs, moving well beyond the one-size-fits-all nutritional guidelines that have long dominated public health guidance.
In this article, we’ll dig deeper into the role of biotechnology in personalised nutrition.
Definition of Personalised Nutrition
Personalised nutrition or precision nutrition – an emerging research area – refers to the process of individualising a person’s nutritional advice, services, and products that pitch targeted and specific healthy eating and dietary advice for them. It depends on a slew of factors – an individual’s medical history, genetic, phenotypic, and nutritional needs.
It doesn’t aim to alter existing dietary guidelines, turn food into medications, or personalise food items. Rather, nutrition personalisation is a scientifically proven approach to help people modify their dietary behaviour. It thus helps everyone – whether vulnerable to health issues or in a good health condition – by recommending healthy nutrition based on their unique dietary needs and characteristics.
A study that examined the impact of personalised nutritional support on clinical outcomes in medical inpatients at nutritional risk reported that patients who received personalised nutrition aid experienced a lower percentage (23%) of adverse health outcomes compared to those who did not receive it (27%). It implies that personalised food and nutrition interventions can significantly lower the risk of facing health issues while also augmenting patient outcomes in medical settings.
That being said, understanding a person’s genetic makeup plays a key role in helping customise their dietary plans for an optimised health condition. Biotechnology helps better understand a person’s unique genetic makeup.
Let’s look into the role of biotechnology in facilitating personalised nutrition development.
Biotechnology in Personalised Nutrition
Genomics and Nutrigenomics
Genomics – more specifically, data on genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) – has been proven to be highly effective in helping tailor nutrition and dietary plans based on a person’s unique genetic variability.
For instance, the variants in the TAS2R38 gene encode the taste receptor protein that determines how a person’s metabolic system responds to bitter compounds, such as some veggies, dark chocolates, etc. On the other hand, the genetic polymorphism (C/T-13910 variant) that determines a human’s response to lactase is found in the enhancer region of the lactase (LCT) gene.
Even better, data on a person’s genetic variability at multiple SNPs can now be obtained effortlessly – thanks to the advancements in biotechnology and the mass development of gene testing kits. This information is critical to comprehending a person’s metabolic characteristics – nutrient metabolism and absorption rate, metabolic expenditure, predisposition to nutrient deficits, or developing certain health issues and responses to dietary interventions.
Today, direct-to-consumer nutrigenomic testing is widely adopted by biotech companies to offer customers personalised dietary recommendations. For example, DNAFit, a London-based company pioneer in analysing a person’s genetic variation through gene testing and providing personalised dietary and exercise guidance.
Microbiome Analysis
Different studies have already demonstrated how diet, gut microbiota, and metabolic disorders are interlinked. It’s now evident that no two individuals respond to a specific dietary input the same way. This variation has intensified the need for personalised nutritional advice.
That being said, one of the key reasons behind this difference is the variation in the composition of the microbiota residing in their bodies and the genetic variations they (the host) carry. However, deciphering the microbiome traits is one of the key challenges of understanding a host’s metabolic response to dietary elements.
Different advanced biotechnological tools and processes, such as high-throughput sequencing coupled with bioinformatics, have been proven to help unfold the genetic composition of microbiota in human guts.
These technologies have demonstrated success in identifying and categorising microbiota samples and their functionalities. Besides, advanced biotech processes can be used to develop novel methods to manipulate and modulate the genetic makeup of these microbiotas for better health outcomes. Genetic markers and diagnostic test kits can also be developed using different biotech processes to better understand a person’s microbiome profile which ultimately would pave the way for creating personalised nutrition plans.
Different biotech companies like Viome are now pioneering in providing users with personalised plans for their diets, supplements, and probiotics based on advanced RNA-based microbiome analysis.
Note: The human microbiota consists of 10-100 trillion symbiotic microbial cells, primarily bacteria residing in the gut; the human microbiome is the collection of the genomes, genes, and genetic materials of the microbiota cells.
Metabolomics
Metabolomics research – the study field that analyses and measures metabolites (molecules of <900 daltons) harboured in a tissue, cell, or organism – plays a critical role in advancing research in personalised nutrition.
Data on the concentration and patterns of metabolites help experts get an in-depth insight into a person’s food intake, and how their dietary habit or interventions impact their metabolism. Combining data gathered from an individual’s metabolomic profile with their nutrigenomic and microbiome analysis helps curate a tailored diet plan.
Beyond metabolites and genomic markers, biotech peptides in nutritional research have emerged as a compelling molecular-level tool, offering researchers a means to probe metabolic pathways, modulate enzymatic activity, and even serve as bioactive dietary components in intervention studies. These engineered or naturally derived peptide molecules can interact with specific receptors and signalling cascades, generating measurable metabolic responses that feed directly into nutrigenomic analyses. As the field advances, integrating peptide-based data alongside metabolomic profiles adds another layer of precision to personalised nutrition strategies — one that sets the stage for the sophisticated biotechnological profiling techniques discussed ahead.
Different biotechnological processes, such as mass spectrometry, gas chromatography (GC), liquid chromatography (LC), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, etc., facilitate metabolomic profiling.
AI and ML with Biotechnology
The capabilities of biotechnological processes can be doubled down with the incorporation of AI and ML. For example, ML algorithms can be used to dig deeper into massive troves of genetic, microbiome, and nutrition data.
Understanding these datasets can help identify patterns and correlate between dietary habits, genetic predispositions, and health outcomes. AI and ML algorithms make it effortless for experts to categorise individuals into different groups, facilitating personalised diet planning.
Again, ML-based advanced predictive analytics and modelings can take a range of factors – metabolomics, genomics, and lifestyle – into account while projecting the impact of different dietary interventions on an individual.
Limitations of Biotech Nutritional Processes
Complexity and Variability
Biotech processes, in tandem with advanced AI/ML algorithms, facilitate microbiome profiling, nutrigenomic analysis, and metabolomic profiling. Data gathered from these processes is critical to help design diets or supplement regimens tailored for each individual.
However, a human’s metabolism process and response to certain dietary interventions is also influenced by a person’s health status and a slew of environmental factors, also known as exposome. It implies that personalising nutrition plans solely based on genetic variants and microbiome profiling won’t be highly effective. For an effective plan, exposome needs to be considered as well.
Limited Understanding
Microbiome analysis and nutrigenomics are evolving study fields and more research is needed to be conducted to ensure researchers get a complete picture of the microbiota, genes, and their interactions with human metabolism. This limited understanding can affect the personalisation of dietary/supplement recommendations.
Ethical Considerations
With biotech processes, such as deciphering one’s genetic codes, come a slew of ethical challenges to address. For example, stringent ethical standards and frameworks for microbiome profiling should be developed to ensure no sensitive information is misused.
Biotech processes are revolutionising nutrition science, opening up new frontiers for optimising your overall health and wellbeing. However, addressing the limitations is critical to ensure the effective personalisation of nutrition.
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