Gene analysis improves aging

Personalized aging can determine which lifestyle helps warding off critical health conditions

Finding out whether one is susceptible to cancer, Alzheimer’s or diabetes is just a bit of spit and less than $200 away. Or so genetic testing companies such as 23andMe, Promethease and others, which provide details about health risks based on gene variants, claim. Results can be viewed online a few weeks later – if you dare.

The DNA tests have sparked controversy: critics say they might be too inaccurate to support health decisions. In, the US Food and Drug Administration banned 23andMe from marketing its tests in the US, claiming that the company had introduced its Saliva Collection Kit and Personal Genome Service without marketing approval, thus violating the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. The Alphabet Inc.-backed company launched its health genetic tests in the UK and Canada instead while focusing its US offer on ancestry testing.

The practice is not confined to the US. Asia Genomics offers clients in Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam tests screening for cancer, reproductive issues and cardiology as well as genetic counselling. GenomeAsia 100K, an initiative hosted at Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU), intends to sequence 100,000 individuals from more than a dozen Asian countries from India to Japan to better understand the biology of disease in Asian populations as previous studies were limited to people of European descent.

NTU president Bertil Andersson expects the initiative to lead to better healthcare discoveries for Asian patients. “With almost all current personal genomic efforts concentrating on populations in the Western world, the new consortium will benefit the Asian population as it sheds light on the genetic fabric of Asians,” he said at the initiative’s announcement.

LET’S MAKE IT PERSONAL

While such transparency can seem threatening, it can also bring significant health benefits. Many prevalent modern diseases are lifestyle dependent. No two individuals experience aging in exactly the same way.

“For those with a risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease, there are measures to reduce the risk,” says Pinchas Cohen, dean of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. “Other behavior patterns help reduce the risk of diabetes or cancer.” Choosing the preventative measures to avoid personal high-risk diseases is the most important step in “personalized aging,” a term Cohen coined.

Our next challenge is empowering people to use their genetic data to promote their health and happiness Health and nutritional advice abounds, but is often conflicting. People need personalized advice that involves a limited number of things to do, explains Cohen.

The concept of personalized aging is spreading, as scientists increasingly understand genetic variations, the interactions between genes and environment as well as their correlation with specific diseases. Personal genomics has advanced over the last decade, allowing medical professionals to analyze individuals’ genomes by means of single-nucleotide polymorphism analysis chips and partial or full genome sequencing.

Accessing genotypes makes it easier to identify the various gene variants associated with the risk of getting various diseases. For example, variations within the gene called Apo-E determine the risk for Alzheimer’s disease that can vary by a factor of 10 from one variant to another.

Other genes act as health pointers. A melanoma-risk gene variant might make you rethink your sunscreen regimen; another gene variant helps determine the usefulness of a daily aspirin. There is even a gene variant, which determines whether one might benefit from a glass of red wine each day.

Once the individual risk is understood, various interventions are available, says Cohen. “We can sequence individual genomes quickly and relatively cheaply. Our next challenge is empowering people to use their genetic data to promote their own health and happiness.”

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT

Helping people select the best diet for them according to their genetics and other biomarkers, such as blood lipid or cholesterol levels, comes top of the list. This remains an area of active research, but emerging data indicates that a low protein diet might help people with a high risk of cancer and that certain gene variants determine the responsiveness to a low-carb diet.

Then comes exercise. Genetic variants determine whether certain people benefit more from high-aerobic exercise, such as running, or from low-impact workouts, such as weightlifting. Research is ongoing. “We are still at the stage where we can only tell people that physical activity is good,” says Cohen.

Who knows what might come next or how the practicalities of this will unfold. Clearly, healthcare professionals will need to pass on medical advice to individuals to stop them from making inappropriate decisions about their health, Cohen suggests.

Already over a million people in the US have voluntarily had their genes analyzed to identify the risks of various diseases. Not everyone chooses to delve deeply into their genome, but the opportunity to do so and guarantee healthy aging is beckoning.

Gene analysis improves aging

Personalized aging can determine which lifestyle helps warding off critical health conditions

Gene analysis improves aging

Personalized aging can determine which lifestyle helps warding off critical health conditions

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