Millions in Funding for New DFG Research Group on the Influence of Heat-Treated Fats on Evolution
TU Dresden Researches the Effects of Cooking Fats on Organisms and Evolution
A new DFG research group led by biology professor Klaus Reinhardt of the Technical University of Dresden (TUD) is investigating how heated dietary fats (lipids) affect organisms and whether they can trigger evolutionary changes. The German Research Foundation (DFG) is providing approximately 3.1 million euros in funding for this project over four years. The group is funded jointly with the Swiss National Science Foundation as part of the D-A-CH collaboration.
Cooking, frying, and baking have been part of everyday life for humans for thousands of years. Heat treatment makes food easier to digest and alters its chemical properties. The effects of heated sugar and protein on humans have been well studied. However, little is yet known about the exact role of heat-treated fats in our diet.
Questions that have rarely been asked before are now being investigated
Dresden is a globally recognized center for lipid research. A total of seven research groups from the disciplines of biology, food chemistry, and molecular medicine at TUD and the University Hospital of Dresden (UKDD) now plan to pool their expertise in lipid research in this new project, in collaboration with a Swiss research team, to investigate a question that has scarcely been explored to date: What happens when plant- or animal-based dietary fats are heat-treated? How do these heat-altered molecules function afterward, and what role do they play in the evolution of organisms?
The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster serves as the model organism. In particular, the animals’ short life cycle offers researchers the opportunity to observe the effects of different dietary fats over many generations. The research will focus primarily on the relationship between dietary fats and reproduction, as well as adaptations to dietary availability over many generations.
“Although the results from the flies cannot be directly applied to humans, many fundamental biological processes and lipid transport systems are comparable between flies and humans. Therefore, in the long term, we also want to investigate what implications the findings might have for human nutrition and evolutionary history,” explains Marko Brankatschk, acting professor of plant cell and molecular biology at TUD.
International Collaboration with Switzerland
With this new research group, TUD is strengthening its interdisciplinary research at the intersection of the life sciences, chemistry, and medicine and further expanding its international collaboration with Switzerland. Prof. Klaus Reinhardt, the project’s initiator and elected spokesperson, explains: “After a long period of preparation, I’m now really excited to work with everyone on this great team.”
In addition to research, the group also focuses on engaging with the public. Educational programs for schools are planned to clearly illustrate to students the connections between nutrition, chemistry, biology, and evolution. To this end, an “Open Lab” is also planned for the future, where interested members of the public can bring their own food samples to investigate, together with the researchers, the effect of their dietary fats on fruit flies.
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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