Navigenics
“They analyse your DNA for risk markers that may genetically predispose you to various health conditions, including breast cancer, type 2 diabetes, colon cancer and heart attack. Navigenics was founded in 2006 by David Agus, M.D. and Dietrich Stephan, Ph.D., with the overall goal of improving personal health.
Their genetic testing services were born out of scientific discoveries initially made possible by the Human Genome Project, a 13-year federal and international collaboration to identify every single human gene.
Genetic Testing & Analysis
They believe that genetic testing and analysis will become the foundation and standard of care that will make personalised medicine a reality. They believe when you understand your DNA and how it affects your health, you have valuable information to help you catch health conditions early, reduce their effects or even prevent them entirely. Because life is not just about living long, it’s about living well.
Your family history may play an important role in your genetic makeup, but your DNA is unique. When you understand your DNA and how it affects your health, you have valuable information that can help you take control of your health. You were born with your own genetic code, a unique set of instructions stored inside the cells of your body. These instructions, which tell your body how to function over the course of your life, are found in the molecules called DNA.
Your complete DNA instruction set, or genome, is divided into 23 volumes of information called chromosomes, which you inherited from your parents. You have two copies of each of your chromosomes, one from your father and the other from your mother. Each chromosome consists of thousands of genes, which are the actual instructions that tell your body what to do. These instructions are spelled out in molecular letters that make up your DNA, referred to as A, C, G and T.
Most of our genetic code is remarkably similar from person to person. But we each also carry DNA differences that make us unique. The reason we differ from each other is that we have inherited from our ancestors single-letter differences in the genetic code — for instance, a G instead of a C in one particular set of instructions. Sometimes these minor changes have significant effects: Certain changes, or mutations, might make you more likely to develop particular health conditions.
When it comes to health, scientists have learned that about 10 million points in the human genetic code are especially important. At these points, the genetic code from person to person often differs by one letter – for instance, a G is swapped for an A, or a C for a T. In some cases, the code includes one extra letter (two C’s instead of one, for instance, called an insertion), or one letter fewer (known as a deletion).
Markers affecting Your Health
These differences can be used as flags or markers for nearby DNA that affects your health. They are called SNPs (pronounced “snips,” short for single nucleotide polymorphisms). By looking very closely at your complete genetic code, it’s possible to see, for each location, whether you have the genetic letter or letters associated with an increased risk of a particular disease.
Any disease-associated markers you inherited from your parents put you at higher risk for the conditions related to those markers. If you have the risk markers connected with diabetes, for instance, you are more likely to devop diabetes during your lifetime. You may also inherit markers that protect you from certain health conditions.
Health Prevention Strategies
Your DNA is important, but it’s only a starting point. Knowing which risks you’ve inherited can guide your health prevention strategies. From there, you can assess your environment and lifestyle and take important steps to protect your health in the future. Your genetic risk can’t be changed. But the rest of your risks often can, by what you eat, what you drink, where you live, how you live, how active you are and factors not yet discovered.”
