Genomic Enterprise
Genomic Enterprise
Chicago, IL
United States
Genetic Tests
What is a genetic test?
Genetic test is a procedure where you can examine specific pieces of the DNA by using blood, saliva and other body fluids to evaluate an individual's ancestors, susceptibility to diseases, prediction of diseases late in adult life, parental relationships and forensics.
Genomic Enterprise will help you find the genetic test that is applicable to you. If you want to know more contact us.
If you are a health care professional in the United States or any other country wanting to know which genetic test is applicable to your patient contact us now. Genomic Enterprise will guide you to the companies that provide the most reliable genetic tests and help you interpret the results.
IMPORTANT NEWS:
Genetic tests will be able to predict how long we will live?
Genome-Wide Association studies with more than a thousand centenarians points to some genomic regions that may be related to how long we will live. This study was published in the Science Magazine and suggests that in the future we will be able to have a genetic test for longevity!
New Genetic Test companies:
Pathway Genomics provides cutting-edge research and easy-to-read scientific information customized for individuals, based on your genes and your lifestyle. This company offers predisposition genetic tests for more than 70 diseases and conditions and also for drug response and pre-pregnancy carrier status.
Counsyl
A california based company, Counsyl sells a $349 saliva test for gene mutations for more than 100 inherited rare disorders. Several thousand people used it over the last year, the company reports. This company uses a DNA biochip designed specifically to test these diseases claiming that it will revolutionize the DNA testing field.
Types of genetic tests and links to some companies:
Ancestry
Diagnostic testing is used to identify or rule out a specific genetic or chromosomal condition. In many cases, genetic testing is used to confirm a diagnosis when a particular condition is suspected based on physical signs, morphology and symptoms. Diagnostic testing can be performed before birth or at any time during a person’s life, but is not available for all genes or all genetic conditions. It is important to make clear that the results of a diagnostic test can influence a person’s choices about health care and the management of the disorder.
Newborn screening is used just after birth to identify genetic disorders that can be treated early in life. Millions of babies are tested each year in the United States. All states currently test infants for the most commom genetic disorder that causes mental retardation if left untreated - phenylketonuria - and disorders of the thyroid gland such as congenital hypothyroidism. Most states in the United States also test for other genetic disorders.
A maternity or paternity identification test is conducted to establish whether a person is the biological parent of another person based on specific sequences of their DNA. A test to prove paternity (whether a man is someone's father) is known as a paternity test; a test to prove maternity (whether a woman is someone's mother) is called a maternity test. Although paternity tests are more common than maternity tests, there may be circumstances in which the biological mother of the child is unclear. Comparing the DNA sequence of an individual to that of another individual can show if one of them was derived from the other or not. Specific sequences are usually looked at to see if they were copied from one of the individual's genome to the other. Besides the nuclear DNA in the nucleus, the mitochondria in the cells also have their own genetic material termed the mitochondrial genome. Mitochondrial DNA comes only from the mother, without any shuffling and it is used to evaluate maternity. For paternity, DNA sequences in the Y chromosome can be used to evaluate who is the father of a child.
Predictive and pre-symptomatic testing is used to detect gene mutations associated with disorders that appear after birth, often later in life. These tests can be helpful to people who have a family member with a genetic disorder, but who have no features of the disorder themselves at the time of testing. Predictive testing can identify mutations that increase a person’s risk of developing disorders with a genetic basis, such as certain types of cancer. Pre-symptomatic testing can determine whether a person will develop a genetic disorder, such as for example hemochromatosis (an iron overload disorder) and Huntington's disease (neurodegenerative disorder), before any signs or symptoms appear. The results of predictive and pre-symptomatic testing can provide information about a person’s risk of developing a specific disorder and help with making decisions about medical and health care.
Pre-implantation testing, also called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), is a specialized technique that can reduce the risk of having a child with a particular genetic or chromosomal disorder. It is used to detect genetic changes in embryos that were created using assisted reproductive techniques such as in-vitro fertilization (IFV). IFV involves removing egg cells from a woman’s ovaries and fertilizing them with sperm cells outside the body. To perform pre-implantation testing, a small number of cells are taken from these embryos and tested for certain genetic changes. Only embryos without these changes are implanted in the uterus to initiate a pregnancy after IFV.
Prenatal testing is used to detect changes in a fetus’s genes or chromosomes before birth. This type of testing is offered during pregnancy if there is an increased risk that the baby will have a genetic or chromosomal disorder. In some cases, prenatal testing can lessen a couple’s uncertainty or help them make decisions about a pregnancy. It cannot identify all the inherited disorders and birth defects, but there are several tests already available for the most common ones.
Prognostic testing is used to identify patients or groups of patients that will have a better or worse prognosis when diagnosed with a particular disease. In most cases, the genetic test is used to select patients that will respond better to a specific therapy. Examples are genetic tests looking for mutations and/or defects in cancer patients. There are two targeted therapies for breast and lung cancers that already use a prognostic test - HER2 amplifications for breast tumors and EGFR mutations for lung cancers.
Forensic
Forensic testing uses DNA sequences to identify an individual for legal purposes. Unlike the tests described above, forensic testing is not used to detect gene mutations associated with disease. This type of testing can identify crime or catastrophe victims, rule out or implicate a crime suspect, or establish biological relationships between people (for example see parental test).
If you want to know more about genetic tests, the companies that provide genetic tests or have any other queries about our services contact us.
Genomic Enterprise
Chicago, IL
United States
