Good news! The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has announced a $466,125 grant to Mount Sinai School of Medicine to investigate triggers of food allergies. According to the New Release, the "results of the EPA funded research will be used to better predict if the development of dietary allergens is connected with genetic engineering of foods."
The release continues, "Mount Sinai researchers will test the mechanism by which thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), a human gene that has a central role in the development of allergic inflammation in the skin and lung, could also promote food allergy. They will investigate how the gene reacts in the body’s gastrointestinal tract under different conditions and thereby better comprehend its role in allergic reactions. They will closely examine how TSLP regulates or affects other biological changes within the stomach and intestines. The project also aims to develop a genetically modified mouse especially designed for food protein research."
To read the News Release, click here. More information is also available at http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.abstractDetail/abstract/8939/report/0.