Fighting Allergies with Research

More than 90% of food allergic reactions are produced from consuming wheat, milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soybeans, fish and shellfish. Symptoms range from aggravating to life-threatening.

Thanks to science, wheat, milk and many other dietary staples may soon be safer for consumers, and hypoallergenic feed and food products could become a high-value commodity for the agricultural industry. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have screened over 11,000 plant types and found one that is absent from the protein in soybeans that provokes allergic reactions in 6 to 8% of children.

The University of California, Berkley plant scientists used thioredoxin, a naturally occurring protein found in all living cells, to change the shape of allergen proteins in wheat and milk, rendering them less allergenic. Public investment in food and agricultural research gives a 48% return in investment per year on average.