CDN Nutritional Genomics & Precision 5

Question 1

Which concept describes the phenomenon where identical twins show diverging health outcomes over time due to differing epigenetic changes?

Accepted Answer

Epigenetic drift

Answer

Epigenetic drift refers to the accumulation of methylation and histone modification differences over time due to environmental exposures including diet.

Question 2

A dietitian using a 'precision nutrition' approach would most appropriately integrate which combination of data to personalize dietary recommendations?

Accepted Answer

Genotype, phenotype, microbiome, and lifestyle data

Answer

Precision nutrition synthesizes multi-omics data—genomic, metabolomic, microbiomic, and phenotypic—to generate individualized dietary guidance beyond population-level recommendations.

Question 3

Genomic imprinting refers to which epigenetic mechanism?

Accepted Answer

Parent-of-origin-specific gene expression based on epigenetic marks

Answer

Genomic imprinting silences one parental allele through methylation, so only the maternal or paternal copy is expressed depending on the gene.

Question 4

Which dietary component is most studied for its ability to influence DNA methylation through the one-carbon metabolism pathway?

Accepted Answer

Methyl-donor nutrients (folate, B12, choline, methionine)

Answer

Methyl-donor nutrients supply the methyl groups used by DNA methyltransferases to methylate cytosine residues, directly modulating epigenetic patterns.

Question 5

The gut microbiome influences host gene expression primarily through which mechanism relevant to nutritional genomics?

Accepted Answer

Production of metabolites like SCFAs that act as epigenetic modifiers

Answer

Microbial metabolites such as butyrate, propionate, and acetate modulate host histone acetylation and DNA methylation, linking diet, microbiome, and epigenome.

(CDN) Certified Dietician Nutritionist Practice Test

(CDN) Certified Dietician Nutritionist Practice Test

CDN Nutritional Genomics & Precision 5