Omega-3: a Link Between Global Climate Change and Human Health

Overview

Journal Biotechnol Adv

Specialties Biochemistry
Biotechnology

Date 2011 Mar 17

PMID 21406222

Citations 15

Authors

Jing X Kang

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

In recent years, global climate change has been shown to detrimentally affect many biological and environmental factors, including those of marine ecosystems. In particular, global climate change has been linked to an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, UV irradiation, and ocean temperatures, resulting in decreased marine phytoplankton growth and reduced synthesis of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Marine phytoplankton are the primary producers of omega-3 PUFAs, which are essential nutrients for normal human growth and development and have many beneficial effects on human health. Thus, these detrimental effects of climate change on the oceans may reduce the availability of omega-3 PUFAs in our diets, exacerbating the modern deficiency of omega-3 PUFAs and imbalance of the tissue omega-6/omega-3 PUFA ratio, which have been associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and neurodegenerative disease. This article provides new insight into the relationship between global climate change and human health by identifying omega-3 PUFA availability as a potentially important link, and proposes a biotechnological strategy for addressing the potential shortage of omega-3 PUFAs in human diets resulting from global climate change.

Citing Articles

Marine microalgae demonstrates strong production of essential fatty acids in various cultivation conditions, advancing dietary self-sufficiency.

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Impact of Climate Change on Dietary Nutritional Quality and Implications for Asthma and Allergy.

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Desaturases: Structural and mechanistic insights into the biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids.

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