2005 Annual Report 1.What major problem or issue is being
resolved and how are you resolving it (summarize project aims
and objectives)? How serious is the problem? What does it
matter? A common dietary problem in Westernized societies is
functional deficiencies in trace minerals and vitamins due to
poor eating behavior. There are also harmful environmental
conditions that contribute trace mineral pollutants and
contaminants that compete with essential trace minerals for
binding sites on functional proteins. Seventy-six million cases
of food-borne illness occur each year in the United States at a
cost of $3-7 billion annually, yet it is not clear how important
are micronutrients and trace minerals in the prevention of
disease of the intestinal track. Basic information on functional
deficiencies is best explored through animal models as a vehicle
for hypothesis testing of novel strategies and approaches. Mice
are an excellent experimental model for testing the role of
nutrition on immune function because there