Nutritional treatment of genome instability: a paradigm shift in disease prevention and in the setting of recommended dietary allowances

The link between genome instability and adverse health outcomes during the various stages of life, such as infertility, fetal development and cancer, is briefly reviewed against a background of evidence indicating that genome instability, in the absence of overt exposure to genotoxins, is itself a sensitive marker of nutritional deficiency. The latter is illustrated with cross-sectional and dietary intervention data obtained using the micronucleus assay, an efficient biomarker for diagnosing genome instability and nutritional deficiency. The concept of recommended dietary allowances for genome stability and how this could be achieved is discussed together with the emerging field of nutritional genomics for genome stability. The review concludes with a vision for a disease-prevention strategy based on the diagnosis and nutritional treatment of genome instability, i.e. 'Genome Health Clinics'.