Newly discovered genetic variations can impair an enzyme whose malfunction has been linked to birth defects and heart disease--but added nutrients can reverse the effect, according to new research. The findings could signify a step forward for nutrigenomics, a growing field examining how our diet and genes interact to affect our health. Scientists hope that nutrigenomics research will one day help people overcome some of their genetic foibles with personally tailored cocktails of vitamins.

The daily vitamin dosages recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture "are based on studies done 60 years ago, and are based on the assumption that everyone is biochemically the same," says Nick Marini, a biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, who led the new research in collaboration with Jasper Rine, another Berkeley biologist. "We also think compliance would be better if an individual knew they personally needed more of a particular vitamin."

The human genome codes for approximately 600 enzymes that must interact with vitamins or minerals in order to function properly. Scientists have known for years that some rare and severe metabolic disorders, caused by misspellings in the genes for vitamin-dependant enzymes, can be treated with vitamins. But research linking such genetic variations to more subtle health effects, which might affect a much broader swath of the population, is only just beginning.    Read More...