Unilever: DNA diets in 5 years

Unilever is just five years away from selling products based on its growing understanding of the interaction between diets and gene expression.

Unilever senior scientist (food product structuring) Dr Tim Foster, said: "We are actively trying to understand the links between genes and diets, but we are some way off producing and marketing specific products. I would say probably five years away. We want to be absolutely sure of what we're talking about, so we won't rush to market."

A lot of the media coverage of nutrigenomics had focused on personalised nutrition - identifying genetic variations between individuals that give rise to differing responses to nutrients. However, the big opportunity in the short term related to "things that we all have in common", said Catherine Segal, vice-president, business development, at US nutrigenomics firm Wellgen.

"We're talking, in the first instance, about how certain foods can alter the expression of known genes associated with well-known health conditions such as cardiovascular disease. Our understanding of how personal genetic makeup influences how individuals respond to these foods is nothing like as advanced."

Wellgen, a spin-off biotech firm from Rutgers University, whose strategic investors included Danisco Ventures, has identified several bioactive compounds found in food that alter the expression of genes associated with inflammation, arthritis, obesity and cancer, said product development director Julie Hirsch. "Rutgers and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey launched nutrigenomics by patenting a method for screening foods to assess their effects on the expression of genes. We have the licence to this technology." Wellgen was currently developing proprietary ingredients and was focusing on two key bioactives: WG0401, a patent-protected anti-inflammatory, and a second bioactive ingredient targeting genes associated with obesity, she said.

"Inflammation is a root cause of so many health conditions. It's already well understood that theaflavins in tea can impact specific genes directly involved in inflammation, for example. We've developed a custom gene panel of carefully selected genes associated with inflammation."

The focus in 2007 would be on forming partnerships with food and drink manufacturers, she added. "The food industry is really excited about the potential here. But foods are not drugs. It's not about curing conditions or shutting off genes. It's turning down the fire: providing the right type of information to tell your genes to work in the proper manner."