5 February 2004
Fatty acids: Six into three will go
Mammals are unable to produce omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids from the more abundant omega-6 type, so rely on their diet for these nutrients. Several years ago a DNA database search for sequences similar to those of plant genes for fatty acid desaturases catalysing the omega-6 to omega-3 conversion identified the fat-1 gene in the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans. In an experiment reported this week, mice have been engineered to carry the fat-1 gene. The organs and tissues of fat-1 mice contain an abundance of omega-3 and a reduction in omega-6 fatty acids. As well making it possible to study the role of omega-3 fatty acids in the body, this indicates that transgenic technology might be used to enrich omega-3 fatty acids in animal products such as meat, milk and eggs.
Transgenic mice: Fat-1 mice convert n-6 to n-3 fatty acids
JING X. KANG, JINGDONG WANG, LIN WU & ZHAO B. KANG
Nature 427, 504 (2004); doi:10.1038/427504a
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