Your Diet and Your DNA Virtual Lab

Everything you eat will impact your DNA. In this simulation, you will learn about the connection between nutrients in your diet and the stability of your DNA.

Food composition and digestion

Join two young school girls and discover how their contrasting food choices impact them. You will review their food choices by looking at the nutrients’ 3D structures and compositions. Next, you will dive deeper into the human digestive system. Through detailed 3D animations, you’ll get the opportunity to travel through the gut with the bacteria and see how nutrients are absorbed in the human body.

DNA experiments

You will perform two experiments to uncover how nutrients impact the DNA structure. In these experiments, you will compare samples taken from people with healthy and unhealthy diets. In the first experiment, you will measure the DNA telomere length. In the second experiment, you will measure the DNA adduct level from colon samples.

Plan a healthy meal

Finally, you will use your acquired knowledge to plan a healthy meal for Mia, who is a school athlete. You can choose from a range of different food options to build your meal plan. Will you be able to help Mia get her energy back?