Karolinska: to lead SEK 62M Tornado project in food

Karolinska Institutet is to coordinate a new research project to chart the molecular mechanisms used by gut flora that affect overall physiology in the Tornado SEK 62 million (€6.33 million) project, funded by the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme.

“The aim is to identify biomarkers for the development of tailor-made dietary products and medicines,” says Sven Pettersson, the professor at Karolinska Institutet who is heading the project.

The field, which studies the relationship between bacteria and host, is advancing rapidly at present. New findings have shown normal gut flora have the ability to affect the body functions in ways that were not previously realised. For example it is now known that gut flora strengthen the immune system, affect the formation of blood vessels in the gut wall, regulate the storage of fat, are implicated in the metabolism of medicines in the liver, and have an anti-inflammatory effect on local inflammatory processes in the gastrointestinal tract.

“But this is just the tip of the iceberg,” says Pettersson. “Even more remarkable is the fact that bacterial products can also have a systemic effect. Identifying these substances, their signalling paths and, of course, the target organs is also one of the main aims of the project.”

The Tornado team comprises members from eight countries, with representatives from both academia and industry. Tornado is an acronym for “Molecular Targets Open for Regulation by the gut flora; New Avenues for improved Diet to Optimise European Health”. Alongside Pettersson, the research work will be led by Joseph Rafter and Velmurugesan Arulampalam at Karolinska Institutet.

Research into gut flora is a priority at Karolinska Institutet, and is carried out on mice especially reared under sterile conditions in a unique animal unit that was set up in the 1950s by the late professor Bengt Gustafsson.