Fact 1: Food and Mutations

Eating certain foods could affect you very differently to another person because of mutations in your genes.

Your genes are constantly changing, this is known as mutation and it is the key to how evolution happens. But evolution aside some of these changes can also affect how your food interacts with your body. Genetics is simple (well it’s not really but for the purposes of this we will imagine it is). Basically your genes are coded for by a combination of 4 letters (each representing a chemical) A, G, C and T. These pair up and form a code. Just one change in this code can make a big difference. There are many examples but one I came across today was a mutation in a protein called methylenetetrahyrdrofolate reductase – we’ll call it MR. This protein is involved in breaking down the nutrient folic acid (look on the side of your corn flakes box) into things the body can use. Just replacing one letter for another in the gene for MR makes it faulty, meaning the body doesn’t get the important chemicals it needs, so much so it can lead to things like heart disease or alzheimers. There you are science fans – your first fun fact! Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Geek out!