WHEAT ALLERGIES ARE GROWING AT AN ALARMING RATE WITH A MAJOR IMPACT ON THE ECONOMY. A VALIDATED METHOD TO DETERMINE THE ALLERGENIC POTENTIAL OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED (GM) WHEAT OR PROCESSED WHEAT IS UNAVAILABLE--AN URGENT NEED. OUR LONG-TERM GOAL IS TO DEVELOP METHODS TO ASSESS THE ALLERGENIC POTENTIAL OF NOVEL FOODS. WE HAVE DEVELOPED A NOVEL TRANSDERMAL SENSITIZATION/ORAL ELICITATION (TS/OE) MOUSE MODEL OF FOOD ALLERGY FOR TESTING GM FOODS. THE OBJECTIVE HERE IS TO VALIDATE THIS MODEL FOR WHEAT. OUR CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS IS THAT THE FOUR COMMON WHEAT GENOTYPES WILL DIFFER IN INTRINSIC ALLERGENICITY. THE RATIONALE FOR THIS RESEARCH IS THAT IT IS EXPECTED TO RESULT IN A VALIDATED METHOD FOR TESTING GM WHEAT AND PROCESSED WHEAT. THERE ARE TWO AIMS: 1). VALIDATE THE TS/OE MODEL FOR TRANSDERMAL SENSITIZATION: HERE, THE HYPOTHESIS THAT THE FOUR WHEAT GENOTYPES WILL DIFFER IN ELICITING IGE RESPONSES WILL BE TESTED; 2). VALIDATE THE TS/OE MODEL FOR ORAL CHALLENGE. USING QUANTIFIABLE READOUTS WEWILL TEST THE POSTULATE THAT THE FOUR GENOTYPES WILL DIFFER IN ORAL ALLERGY ELICITATION ABILITY. THIS APPROACH IS INNOVATIVE, IN THE APPLICANTS OPINION BECAUSE IT DEPARTS FROM THE STATUS QUO NAMELY, LACK OF A VALIDATED REFERENCE STANDARD METHOD TO ASSESS THE ALLERGENIC POTENTIAL OF GM WHEAT OR PROCESSED WHEAT. THE SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME FROM THIS RESEARCH IS EXPECTED TO CREATE SUCH A VALIDATED METHOD TO ADVANCE SAFETY OF GM FOODS.