[Nutrigenomics. Scientific basis, status and perspectives of application].

Nutrigenomics investigates the interaction between nutrition and the genome, thereby combining nutritional research with functional genomics. Its aims are (1) to correlate heterogeneous effects of nutrients with sequence variations in the genome and (2) to investigate the effects of nutrients and other food components on gene expression at a genome-wide scale (mRNA profiling), and on patterns of metabolite alterations in serum (metabolite profiling). The field will provide important information as to the biological effects of food components, and to the functional consequences of genetic variance. This information will improve the prevention of nutrition-related diseases, e. g. by establishing personalised nutritional recommendations.