A Brief Review of Genetic Approaches to the Study of Food Preferences: Current Knowledge and Future Directions
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Institute for Maternal and Child Health, IRCCS “Burlo Garofolo”, Via dell’Istria 65/1, 34137 Trieste, Italy
2
Department of Medical Sciences, University of Trieste, Strada di Fiume, 447, 34149 Trieste, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Nutrients 2019, 11(8), 1735; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11081735
Received: 24 January 2019
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Revised: 17 July 2019
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Accepted: 25 July 2019
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Published: 26 July 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Taste, Nutrition and Health)
Genetic variation plays a crucial role in individual differences in food preferences which ultimately influence food selection and health. Our current understanding of this pathway has been informed through twin studies (to assess the heritability of food preferences), candidate gene studies, and genome-wide association studies (GWAS). However, most of this literature is mainly focused on genes previously identified as having taste or smell functions. New data suggests that genes not associated with taste or smell perception may be involved in food preferences and contribute to health outcomes. This review highlights these emerging findings and suggests a polygenic risk assessment approach to explore new relationships between food preferences and health risks.
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Keywords:
genetics; food preferences; heritability; candidate gene; GWAS; adiposity; polygenic risk score
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
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MDPI and ACS Style
Robino, A.; Concas, M.P.; Catamo, E.; Gasparini, P. A Brief Review of Genetic Approaches to the Study of Food Preferences: Current Knowledge and Future Directions. Nutrients 2019, 11, 1735. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11081735
AMA Style
Robino A, Concas MP, Catamo E, Gasparini P. A Brief Review of Genetic Approaches to the Study of Food Preferences: Current Knowledge and Future Directions. Nutrients. 2019; 11(8):1735. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11081735
Chicago/Turabian StyleRobino, Antonietta, Maria P. Concas, Eulalia Catamo, and Paolo Gasparini. 2019. "A Brief Review of Genetic Approaches to the Study of Food Preferences: Current Knowledge and Future Directions" Nutrients 11, no. 8: 1735. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11081735
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