FBMLNP: Lifestyle, Nutrigenetics and Personalised Nutrition

Module code: FBMLNP

Module provider: Food and Nutritional Sciences; School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy

Credits: 20

Level: Postgraduate Masters

When you'll be taught: Semester 1

Module convenor: Professor Vimal Karani, email: v.karani@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 21 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

The module deals with human nutrition during the life cycle in health and disease and links this to nutrigenetics, nutrigenomics, epigenetics and personalised nutrition. Throughout the module you will study a selection of current issues in nutrition which impinge on lifestyle (diet and physical activity), health, genetic susceptibility and disease and matters relevant to the interface between human nutrition and food science. The aims of the module are: 

• To develop skills so that you can analyse nutritional requirements throughout the life cycle in individuals with and without the disease 
• To develop your understanding around the interface between nutrigenetics and personalised nutrition 
• To reflect on current issues in nutrition which impinge on diet, health and disease 
• To develop your understanding on topical issues in nutritional sciences which have made major advancements over the last decade including the areas of diet-gene-chronic disease interactions, nutrigenomics, epigenetics and personalised nutrition. 

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to: 

1. Critically discuss the major issues of nutrition during the life cycle; 
2. Critically assess positive and negative influences on health of various diets, food components and nutrients; 
3. Appraise the contribution of genetic variation to disease risk and the impact of lifestyle factors, in particular diet, on the association between genotype and disease and propose strategies for implementing personalised nutrition and developing functional foods based on nutrigenetics findings; 
4. Discuss gene-diet and gene-physical activity interactions on metabolic and cardiovascular disease-related outcomes and the contribution of foetal nutrition to later disease development.

Module content

The module deals with issues of nutrition during the life cycle and how lifestyle factors (diet and physical activity) modify the relationship between the genetic factors and disease development. Specific topics include: Introduction to gene structure and regulation and gene discovery methods in genetic epidemiology, gene-lifestyle interactions on obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer, epigenetics, foetal origin of adult disease, gut microbiome and metabolomics and personalised nutrition. In addition, the module covers topics relating to the role of lifestyle factors in various chronic diseases, including cancer, bone disease, obesity and diabetes. The module will also include tutorials on the basics of genetics. 

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

The module consists primarily of tutorials (weeks 1-3), lectures (weeks 4-5), student presentations and invited speaker talks (weeks 7-9). The coursework comprises student presentations (weeks 7-9) and non-lab based practicals on statistical genetics (weeks 10-11). The module will be primarily taught as informal small group interactive lectures given by academics who have active research groups in the area. In addition, students will have an opportunity to critically appraise research article s and present the discussion in groups (weeks 1-3). There will be a non-lab based practical session where students will be provided with a dataset and will get the opportunity to run statistical analysis pertaining to gene-diet interactions (nutrigenetics) using the available statistical software. 

Study hours

At least 45 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 50% to pass this module.

For accredited programmes, students need to achieve 50% in each assessment.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Question and answer session during lectures, tutorials and non-lab based practical sessions. 

Reassessment

Additional costs