Toward an Understanding of Food as Medicine

Davis, CA — A recent feature highlights the work of Dr. Carlito Lebrilla, a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Molecular Medicine at the the University of California, Davis. Driven by the passion to understand what "eating well" actually means at the structural and functional level, Dr. Lebrilla's team focuses on understanding how the smallest sugars in our food helps us transform food and health research.

Dr. Lebrilla's work focuses on the study of glycans—complex carbohydrates that shape our biological systems and the post-translational modification of proteins. Partnering with Agilent Technologies, his team has developed specialized analytical methods and instrumentation capable of studying how changes in protein structure are linked to conditions like Alzheimer's disease and cancer, where these molecules can serve as biomarkers for early detection and progression with the goal of exploring how specific foods can prevent disease.

Since his team's initial development of biomarkers, the scope of Dr. Lebrilla's research has expanded to human milk oligosaccharides to understand why human milk is beneficial beyond basic nutrition. According to Dr. Lebrilla, human milk oligosaccharides were found to be "food for a specific gut microbiome—one that was disappearing from infants." Now, the company sells probiotics containing the bacteria which help establish beneficial gut bacteria and protect infants from disease across the world.

With the help of Agilent Technologies to meet the unique bioanalytical needs of his lab, Dr. Lebrilla's research is paving the way toward a "complete molecular understanding of the role of food in health." Because the future of food and health research isn’t just about what we eat, it’s about understanding how diet connects to disease.

Read Full Article by Agilent here.