Rethinking Diet: Direct To Consumer DNA Testing by: Lougien Ahmed
The first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word DNA is probably paternity testing that helps identify the true father of the baby. You are not completely wrong. However, DNA can be the key to more than that. DNA can hold information about your entire body functioning. It can tell you more about what dieting works for you and what medication is more suitable for your health. This article should walk you through the details of DNA sequencing. As individuals that are responsible for their health, it is one of our necessities to stay updated with medicinal and scientific advances that not only seek human proper being but also maximize their effort to detect diseases before they even exist. We all know the fact that the sooner we detect a disease the higher probability it is cured. Scientists are studying the chances of treating disease before it can even be there. They can do it by analyzing your DNA. First of all, what is DNA? DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid which is composed of two chains that coil around each other carrying strands of genetic information. Each one of us has DNA that holds the structure of their body. This DNA is inherited from both of their parents and also includes what they have inherited from their parents and so on. DNA is constructed of genes. Each gene controls the development of one or more traits. Scientists have denoted alphabets to gene strands and each set of alphabetic patterns is then assigned to a certain trait or function.
“While genetic testing can be a beneficial tool in decoding your health, the results you get from commercial genetic testing labs such as Helix and 23andMe are not likely to be accurate” says James Evans, MD, Ph.D., director of adult and cancer clinical genetics services at the University of North Carolina Medical Center. We talked to Mustafa Mansour, CEO of Hassan Healthcare, the first office to offer direct-to-consumer DNA testing in Egypt. They have 6 tests that concern suitable dietary, suitable fitness programs, detecting diseases, tracing ancestry and even breast cancer detection.
Gene analysis studies have started in the 1980s and have been developing ever since. The first complete DNA sequencing, the Human Genome Project, was done in 2003 and it took 15 years. Now, DNA sequencing will only take 4 weeks. It still seems to face some controversies. However, these controversies are the main motive to develop the system in a more suitable direction.
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