What is phenotypic flexibility?
It is a relatively new “short” term which includes a wide range of human biology aspects. Recently, it has been also the title of a Symposium organized by Nutrigenomics Organization (NUGO) in El Escorial, Madrid addressing all relative issues.
Each human has its own phenotype which includes characteristics such as skin, hair and eye color, body shape, allergies, personality, food priorities and so on. In biomedical sciences this phenotype includes other “hidden” characteristics of the organism, its workings, its strengths and weaknesses, etc. Nowadays, all these characteristics can be measured and quantified providing precise information about ourselves.
Why should I care?
The integrity and stability of our phenotype is constantly challenged (¨attacked¨) by exogenous factors (i.e., tobacco smoking, contamination, food and drinks, sun exposure, and psychological stress) stressing our capacity of maintaining physiological homeostasis (from Greek: ὅμοιος, "hómoios", "similar" and στάσις, stásis, "standing still").
Phenotypic flexibility represents our capacity to counteract these external attacks to maintain a healthy physiological and functional balance. Nowadays, the nutritional genomics field of research has developed a great interest to study in depth what, how, and why this phenotypic flexibility is affected and what can we do to maintain it individually during each of the stages of our lives. Being able to measure, predict or even adjust one’s phenotypic flexibility could give us the tools to act and prevent damages, ensuring health for a longer period of time.
Dra. Valentini Konstantinidou
Researcher