The era of personal genomics has started in 2003, back then the human genome was read for the first time. Recently, research findings have reached ordinary consumers. So, since 2007, 23andMe company funded with the assistance of Google has provided people the opportunity to learn details about their genetic characteristics and tendencies for diseases. It is enough to send your saliva samples to the address of the company.
The idea of personalized medicine lies in using genetic data of a particular person, and making a personal health-monitoring plan. If a person has an increased risk of some diseases, it is possible to take measures to prevent or at least delay them. It will help to treat a person not "using a manual", but on the basis of his individual body.
In Russia 23andMe does not work – sending saliva is contrary to the domestic law.
In the United States and Europe, there are dozens of companies involved in personal genotyping. In Russia, there are clinics where you can analyze one, two or more genes and learn the disease risks. There are companies that analyze the set of DNA and find out the risks of many diseases, as well as other traits recorded in the human genome, but there are very few of them.
Genetic test, recently released by biomedical company Atlas is a notable phenomenon on this market. "My genetics" is rather detailed "digest" of the genome. The test analyzes 500,000 DNA sets.
The test estimates 300 health indicators, for example, susceptibility to 114 diseases including cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, various types of cancer, diabetes, and many others.
There is no necessity to sequence the human genome to find it out. Genotyping is an analysis of genome sets, known to scientists.
"Genotyping is a digest," explains Ancha Baranova, Sc.D., director of Atlas biomedical company. "It can be compared with the summary of "War and Peace" in a volume of 20 pages."
In order to undergo the test, you need to spit in a special tube. According to the rules, you can not eat, drink, chew gum, or kiss half an hour before the test. After sending the tubes to the company, you need to visit the site and fill out a questionnaire. Two weeks later the test results will appear on your account.
Genetic tests are often criticized for the fact that they can not state anything for one hundred percent. It can not say whether this person is sick or not – the test determines the likelihood of disease development.