Study: You Can Have Your Food Personalised Based On Your DNA

There are certain foods that fit like a puzzle with our taste preferences and palate. For instance, certain people like spicy food so they fire up their meals with foods like crushed chili and/or hot sauces, while folks with a milder preference find love in butter sauces and extra cheese. But what if we told you that you could now personalize your food based on not your palate but your genes?

Yep, that may very soon be possible. With dairy science expert Dr. Amy Logan at the helm, The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) has just launched a three-year study into the personalized fabrication of smart food systems. Basically, the food will be designed as per your exact nutritional needs.

“Our scientists and engineers at CSIRO are working towards this future where food, nutraceuticals and other products will be personalized based on an individual’s genetic makeup, and a reality where optimum well-being for each person is a reality. We are building the underpinning science required to develop a personalized and instant food processor, providing the smart, structured soft materials (food and cosmetics) on demand and personalized for you on the day, incorporating sensor technologies that measure food – body and cosmetic – body interactions coupled with personalized genomics and phenotype (lifestyle) data”, explains a mission statement for the study.

What’s even more exciting is the fact that the team aims to fabricate their genetically designed food using 3D printers. The food will be created based on measurements of bodily markers through biosensors.

At the Inside 3D Printing Conference, Logan said: “The vision we have is that in 20 years time, someone would wake up in the morning [and] their physiological markers will have already been measured in a really unintrusive way, potentially through their sweat while they’ve been sleeping using biosensor technology.”

The aim is not only to increase the ease of cooking food and eating healthier but to also keep diseases at bay. “DNA damage is the most fundamental cause of developmental and degenerative disease and accelerated aging,” CSIRO’s The DNA Diet notes.

“Pioneering CSIRO research has demonstrated that damage to the bodies DNA is a fundamental disease that can be diagnosed and partially reversed. A team of CSIRO scientists identified nine micronutrients that are significantly associated with DNA damage. The group also showed that supplementation with certain micronutrients can reduce DNA damage”, it adds.

So roughly in the next two decades, if the research is successful, people will not only be less susceptible to illnesses but will also eat exactly what their body needs. Oh, science.

Source: The Spoon

Feature Image: DrinkPreneur