Trends in food biotechnology

Abstract

For thousands of years man has been applying genetics to improve both foodstuffs and food products. Using selective breeding and/or spontaneous mutations, a large number of plant varieties, animal breeds and microbial strains have been produced. In fact, food biotechnology is the oldest form of biotechnology. Recently, recombinant DNA techniques have been applied in food technology, creating so-called ‘genetically modified foods’ (GM foods). Examples include transgenic potatoes able to act as an oral vaccine against cholera, recombinant wine yeasts that produce wine with a fruitier bouquet, and transgenic cows or ewes producing milk with high levels of pharmaceutical proteins. However, the starting date for the future of food biotechnology was the publication in 2001 of the first draft of the human genome. This paved the way for the search for the genes that are activated or deactivated in response to specifics nutrients. It is now also possible to determine the genetic differences underlying individuals’ different nutritional responses. Furthermore, every day more genomes of animals, plants or microorganisms that are common components of our diet like rice, bread yeast, the probiotic bacterium Bifidobacterium bifidum or pathogens responsible for food poisoning, like Escherichia coli, are published. This provides information about key genes, making it possible to devise strategies for improvement using classical and genetic engineering techniques, demarcate defence mechanisms to combat pathogenicity, and define new physiological functions. Biotechnology’s applications in food and nutrition are more advanced than many people imagine.