Genetic clues to healthy eating

Genetic clues to healthy eating

Spinach contains carotenoids, which are recommended for good nutrition

Researchers are recruiting volunteers for a study into which foods are really good for us.

Scientists at the Institute of Food Research (IFR) in Norwich will use information from the newly-completed human genome project to examine how vegetables can ward off disease.

Gary Wortley, of the Institute's nutrition division told BBC News Online that the study will focus on the ability of carotenoids - found in green and red vegetables and carrots - to prevent some cancers and heart disease.

Mr Wortley said: "We're looking for trends. We're looking to see what a general population has got, how many of one particular kind of gene is expressed or makes a protein."

Blood samples sought

"We know it's down to the genetic level, but we're not sure how it works."

The IFR is calling for volunteers to help with the research, which will conclude by the end of 2003.

Mr Wortley said: "We take blood from volunteers, isolate RNA and bind it to a slide, and we've added some marker dyes to the RNA as well, which fluoresce so that we can tell whether the gene is in the blood."

For the study, the institute is seeking non-smoking, healthy men and women aged between 20 and 45 who are not pregnant or taking oral contraceptives.

They also must not have given blood or received inoculations for 16 weeks.