Nutrigenetics

This issue of the Annales comprises four reports from renown experts pointing out latest knowledge in the field of the interaction between nutrition and genetics, more commonly summarized as nutrigenetics. The areas discussed cover the fields of fatty acid metabolism and related health issues, the effect of nutrition and antioxidant status on disease prevention, the effect of methyl metabolism on brain development, and lastly, a report on the molecular mechanism of epigenetic regulation with a prospective to translate this knowledge to daily life in the near future. A common conclusion from all four reports is that external modifications do not necessarily provoke the same biological effects in different individuals, especially on the long-term scale. The observed differences may not be explained by individual genetic variations alone but also by the timing of interventions, the so called 'window of opportunity'.