Title:Genomics and Natural Products: Role of Bioinformatics and Recent Patents
Volume: 8
Issue: 2
Author(s): Charles Preuss, Malay K. Das and Yashwant V. Pathak
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Alternative medicine, complementary, diet, dietary supplements, herbal products, natural products, nutraceuticals,
nutrigenetics, nutrigenomics, nutrition.
Abstract: The post genomic era has promised major breakthroughs in personalized medicine which will improve a patient’s
health by selecting treatments including diet based on the patient’s unique DNA sequence. The post genomic era is
allowing scientists and clinicians to examine an individuals’ DNA and then recommend the best diet in order to remain
healthy and attenuate disease processes which the individual might be predisposed to because of their genetic make-up,
e.g., cardiovascular disease. Nutrigenomics and nutrigenetics are related terms to pharmacogenomics and pharmacogenetics
with an emphasis on diet or nutrition. There has been an increasing interest in consumers on natural medicines or Nutraceuticals
in order to remain healthy. The post genomic era will allow a patient to visit their physician who will screen
the patients DNA on a silicon chip. This will indicate which of the patient’s genes have polymorphisms, e.g., a single nucleotide
polymorphism (SNP) that might lead the patient to be more susceptible to certain diseases and then the physician
could prescribe the appropriate dietary supplements to prevent or diminish these potential diseases. Several recently published
patents are discussed in the article covering recent developments in the field.