Establishing health benefits of novel foods – University of Auckland & Uniservices
Professor Lynn Ferguson, Auckland University, NZ
Uniservices is an SME which markets – not food stuffs – but University expertise in producing these and evaluating their efficacy. The Discipline of Nutrition specialises in several key technologies. These are especially involved in the development of personalising nutrition, through the different skillbases involved in nutrigenomics. Genomics technologies are essential for defining individual differences, but knowledge of genotype alone is inadequate to move directly to defining an optimal diet. Cell culture models of human variation, using reporter gene assays to show a normal and a deficient phenotypic response, provide preliminary information on the effects of certain nutrients or other dietary chemicals. However, cell culture models do not provide information on uptake, distribution, bioavailability and excretion, and new animal models for chronic disease are an essential step before moving to human clinical trials. Thus, biomarker studies are essential to bridge the gap between animals and human studies in proving health efficacy of a new food, food component or dietary regime.
