Genomics and Natural Products: Role of Bioinformatics and Recent Patents

The post genomic era has promised major breakthroughs in personalized medicine which will improve a patient’s health by selecting treatments including diet based on the patient’s unique DNA sequence. The post genomic era is allowing scientists and clinicians to examine an individuals’ DNA and then recommend the best diet in order to remain healthy and attenuate disease processes which the individual might be predisposed to because of their genetic make-up, e.g., cardiovascular disease. Nutrigenomics and nutrigenetics are related terms to pharmacogenomics and pharmacogenetics with an emphasis on diet or nutrition. There has been an increasing interest in consumers on natural medicines or Nutraceuticals in order to remain healthy. The post genomic era will allow a patient to visit their physician who will screen the patients DNA on a silicon chip. This will indicate which of the patient’s genes have polymorphisms, e.g., a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) that might lead the patient to be more susceptible to certain diseases and then the physician could prescribe the appropriate dietary supplements to prevent or diminish these potential diseases. Several recently published patents are discussed in the article covering recent developments in the field.