Taking a multivitamin daily is often encouraged as a good way to replace the vitamins and minerals that we lose out on in our hectic lives. Now it has been found that vitamins are able to do more than just support our immune system - they may be the key to preventing future illnesses altogether.

Genetics affected by vitamins
Researchers Jasper Rine & Nicholas Marini from Berkeley University in California have been long intrigued by the role of vitamins in DNA repair and have found through a series of tests that vitamins can help activate enzymes that are "switched off", causing certain genetic defects.

Their conclusion was that by supplementing peoples' diets with the right dosage of vitamins- tailored to their specific genetic needs- we may be able to ward off gene-related diseases.

The tests studied the workings of the enzyme methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, or MTHFR. This enzyme needs B vitamin folate in order to function effectively and it plays a key role in synthesising the building blocks that make up our DNA. Defects in the MTHFR enzyme has been found to increase levels of a certain amino acid in the blood, which can lead to heart disease and stroke.

Rine and Marini used yeast and found that by supplementing the yeast's diet with folate they were able to eradicate the defects in the MTHFR enzyme, which when applied to humans would significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Enzymes benefit from vitamins
However, it doesn't stop there, as the scientists say that there are hundreds more enzymes which would benefit from vitamin or mineral supplementation. Rine said: "There are over 600 human enzymes that use vitamins or minerals as cofactors, and this study reports just what we found by studying one of them. What this means is that, even if the odds of an individual having a defect in one gene is low, with 600 genes, we are all likely to have some mutations that limit one or more of our enzymes."

Genome sequencing to become accessible to the masses
Since the sequencing of the human genome was officially completed in 2003, the possibility of using personal genetic information for health benefits is becoming ever more tangible.

Laboratories in the US predict that individual genome sequences will be available to buy for around $100 in the next five years. If this does become a reality we would be able to see what maladies we are genetically pre-disposed to contracting in the future, with the aim to prolonging good health as the years advance.