OSU Professor Discovers New Gene Function

Abstract

A vast majority of the general public is aware that maintaining a balanced diet is the key to good health. What many of us don’t know, however, is why. We know that we are supposed to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, limit the amount of sugar we eat, and avoid eating fast food when we can. We eat vegetables because they are high in vitamins and minerals, which are good for you. We know milk has calcium, which builds strong bones. And, somehow, vitamin C tablets “boost the immune system”, so we’re supposed to take them when we start to feel under the weather. However, when implored to go deeper, many people would find difficulty in explaining exactly how these things work. Luckily, the Department of Nutritional Sciences at Oklahoma State University does much more than teach students how to eat a healthy diet. Its faculty performs complicated and extensive research in order to discover new information about how the foods we put into our bodies affect our health at the molecular level.