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New scientific project in the framework of the Papuan Past Project

Summary of the NUTRIOCEO project

In 2025, a new scientific project, named NUTRIOCEO, will be launched by the Papuan Past Project (PPP) team. The NUTRIOCEO project is funded by the ANR funding body (ANR-24-CE21-0317) for the next three years and is led by Dr Nicolas Brucato. The project will focus on the interaction between Papua New Guinean human genomes, microbiomes and dietary changes in both historical and modern times. It will involve PPP team members (Nicolas Brucato, François-Xavier Ricaut, Christopher Kinipi and new partners from PNG (Alfred Kik) and from the USA (Laura Weyrich). A kick-off meeting will be held between all partners in Spring 2025 to initiate the project and to plan future fieldworks in different parts of PNG. The NUTRIOCEO project is the continuation of all the research already conducted by the PPP which aims to better understand the demographic and adaptive history of Papua New Guineans through archaeological, anthropological and biological approaches.

 

Summary of the NUTRIOCEO project :

For thousands of years, the interaction between the human alimentation, genome and microbiome led populations to be biologically adapted to certain diets. Although this entangled coevolution is a key aspect of sustainable and healthy alimentation, the majority of our scientific knowledge is restricted to European populations, increasing inequality between Western and developing countries. In Oceania, Papua New Guineans (PNG) are the descendants of a 50,000 years long interaction with a unique environment from which they extracted specific food resources. They managed their environment until the independent invention of agricultural practices around 8,000 years ago. Despite this intricate history with local resources, modern PNG populations often suffer from malnutrition especially in urban places where industrialized food is mostly consumed.

The NUTRIOCEO project is built on the ambition to characterize in depth the interaction genome-microbiome-diet in PNG, using a multidisciplinary approach combining expertise from anthropology, population genetics, and microbiology. Based on a long-term international collaboration, we will analyse human genomic variants, oral and gut microbiome diversity and dietary data for 200 participants from PNG in rural and urban locations. The main objectives are (1) to characterize the genetic adaptations caused by historical changes in diets in PNG; (2) to determine the oral and gut microbial diversity in PNG and its link to diet; (3) to identify associations between genetic variants under selection and microbial species associated with diet; (4) to evaluate the impact of urban diet on the interaction genome-microbiome-diet. The NUTRIOCEO project will unveil coevolutionary mechanisms of important matter regarding human health in our era marked by climate changes and the problematic of the availability of alimentary resources.


OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Papuan Past Project Editors (January 29, 2025). New scientific project in the framework of the Papuan Past Project. Papuan Past Project. Retrieved April 19, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/1378n