Healthy living
addition.” In the public health realm, she believes others, such as dietitians, could be playing their part too by educating people on how to buy and prepare these food options.
Where else to look?
At a 2019 event, a pioneer in plant biotechnology and a flagship leader at Rothamsted Research, Professor Jonathan Napier, told delegates of the work he and his team had been doing in genetically modified food trials in the UK. Napier said they had been studying the performance of metabolically engineered oilseeds to accumulate omega-3 fish oils. “We have been evaluating the possibility of producing omega-3 LC-PUFAs in different transgenic hosts to provide a sustainable source of these important nutrients, and specifically to meet the needs of the aquaculture sector,” he said.
He added that effort to metabolically engineer plants with the primary algal biosynthetic pathway for LC-PUFAs had been successful in Camelina, shedding light on what constrains the accumulation of the fatty acids in non-native hosts. “The use of lipidomics has allowed us to identify further metabolic bottlenecks in the transgenic pathway, ultimately leading to the breakthrough production of a transgenic oilseed crop, which contains up to 30% omega-3 LC-PUFAs in its seed oil.” While their work was not complete, the audience was told that the omega-3 trait represented “probably the most complex plant metabolic engineering to undergo field-trials to date”. The notion that oils derived from genetically modified plants can replace fish oil as a source of long- chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids remains under investigation by Napier, alongside other closely related
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research. But while he and his colleagues continue their research, it is clear that humans need to do much more to harness the advantages of such nutrionally valuable produce.
Schutt says there are already some foods that have been formulated to include EPA and DHA omega-3s such as milk, eggs and even buttery spreads. However, she adds that one cannot depend on fortified foods to deliver all their EPA and DHA needs since the fortification levels are so low, but every little bit does help. “EPA and DHA omega-3s are in every cell of the body. They are important for cardiovascular health because they may help lower triglycerides, maintain healthy blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart attack and reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. They are also critical for brain and eye health and development, and for prenatal and maternal health,” she says.
“Even if people did eat two to three servings of fish per week, they still likely won’t reach the levels needed for cardiovascular health and risk reduction.”
“More than 80% of people worldwide are not getting enough EPA and DHA omega-3s. Even if people did eat two to three servings of fish per week, they still likely won’t reach the levels needed for cardiovascular health and risk reduction,” she continues. It is because of this, and because food science has not yet found the holy grail of modified or artificial essential oils, that dietary supplements are so important. “A daily supplement will ensure you’re getting what you need for overall health, including heart health,” Schutt concludes. ●
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EPA and DHA are critical for human development and health.
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