DNAction

Welcome to Pathway Genomics’ first, official DNA Conversation Starter. We felt the best way to kick off this campaign was to start with the basics and to answer the first question that comes to many of our minds—What is genetic testing?

If you mention the term “genetic testing” reactions can vary widely—from curiosity, to reticence or anxiety, to enthusiastic acceptance. The reality is, DNA testing has been used for decades, primarily to determine the paternity of children and to obtain forensic evidence for police investigations and legal trials.

In case your high school science classes don’t come readily to mind, here’s a quick refresher: Within every human cell are 23 pairs of chromosomes that house approximately 25,000 genes—coded instructions for building and maintenance of a human body. Our genes are composed of the chemical, DNA. DNA, or Deoxyribonucleic Acid, is the fundamental building block of humankind’s genetic “blueprint” and contains the biological instructions that make our species different from others, and every person (except identical twins) unique.

In the past few years, the science of DNA testing has advanced exponentially, both in the amount of information genetic tests can reveal, and in the precision and reliability of the results. Today, companies like Pathway Genomics are making it easy and affordable for consumers to test their DNA privately and securely, and gain information that can help them make more-informed health and lifestyle decisions. You may still be asking yourself, how does it work?

How it works
Pathway Genomics’ genetic testing service starts by a customer ordering a genetic health or ancestry report. A DNA collection kit is then delivered via mail, containing a saliva collection vial, simple instructions, and a prepaid return envelope. Once a customer returns their saliva sample to Pathway Genomics’ laboratory, and activates their account online, the genetic results are returned in only a few weeks. By using customized and innovative DNA genetic testing technologies, Pathway Genomics conducts comprehensive genotyping services to provide customers with personalized genetic test reports, outlining their propensity for disease, carrier status, drug response, and ancestral history.
Why test? Perhaps you’re simply curious! If you’re like most people who take a personal DNA test, however, discovering the details of your DNA can help you understand more about your biology and empower you to take more proactive control of your health and wellbeing. If you are interested in learning more about why you should test or what you can learn look forward to our next set of DNA Conversation Starters on these topics.

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Welcome to DNA Conversation Starters! Since launching our company early last year we’ve realized how important it is to provide the public with educational information about genetics and personal genetic testing. For most of us, we learned about DNA for the first time in middle school. But, when was the last time you revisited your biology textbook? Recent discoveries show that genetic information can actually be used for so much more than just determining our eye color.

More and more we see well-known TV shows like Law and Order or CSI using DNA to obtain forensic evidence for police investigations and legal trials. Did you know that canine (dog) DNA is even being used to identify pet owners for not picking up their dog’s droppings on the street? Now, with access to advanced genetic testing technologies, companies like Pathway Genomics can generate genetic test results from a small saliva sample and tell a fascinating story about who you are at your biological core. This information can give you greater insight into your past and present, and empower you to make more-informed choices for your future.

We understand that making the decision to order a personal genetic test brings up a lot of questions. Here, in our ‘DNA Conversation Starters’, we will discuss these questions. We will offer our thoughts and insights on the benefits associated with personal genetic testing and rule out various myths associated with genetic testing. For instance, a genetic health test may tell you that you carry a certain genetic marker linked to heart disease, however being at risk does not mean that you will develop this condition.

Join us as we talk through a variety of topics linked to genetics including women’s health, cancer, heart disease, asthma, men’s health, nutrition, and ancestry. We’ll also answer some of your common questions. If you don’t see a topic that you want to hear about, please let us know and we will do our best to address your questions. This information is meant to help you talk about genetics with confidence.

To help launch DNA Conversation Starters, we are offering a discount for Pathway’s combo Health and Ancestry Genetic Test report. For $348, customers can access genetic testing for health conditions, including drug response, carrier status, and disease plus ancestry. Just enter the code, DNASTART at check out!

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Sharon Ufberg, in a post for Philadelphia’s Examiner.com, takes a shot at J. Craig Venter for his lackadaisical attitude about family history. For those unfamiliar, Venter, a genomics pioneer, was recently named one of Time Magazines most influential people in the world and is one of the first humans to have his entire genome sequenced.

While we agree with Ufberg that today family history is a very important component to understanding disease risk, she entirely misses the point. The reality, as Venter tried to convey, is family history IS genetics. If we entirely understood the entire genome, we certainly wouldn’t have to look at family history. Essentially, the genes we inherit are the most accurate way to look at family history.

The reason responsible medical professionals still look at family history is because our understanding of what genetic components are responsible for complex diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes is still being sorted out. While our knowledge is expanding daily and we can immediately know many drugs that we metabolize better than others, or what recessive genes we may pass to children, it’s still smart to incorporate family history knowledge with your genetic test results.

We certainly look forward to the day we can all economically have our genome fully sequenced and have a complete understanding of the genes we’ve inherited and what it means for the way we should lead our lives. In the meantime, Pathway recommends filling out your lifestyle and family history surveys as part of our overall service of providing the most accurate risk assessment known today.

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San Diego’s Dr. Eric Topol, speaking at the Qualcomm Smart Services Summit in San Diego this morning, suggested that we’re very close to using ingenious smart wireless sensors to transmit biometric data to our smartphones. Using obesity as an example, where genetics plays a role in who is more likely to become obese, Topol explained a wireless health solution would enable users to keep track of “calories in and calories out” through the use of a wireless “band aid” equipped with sensors that can report the metrics to the user’s smartphone.

“That’s doable — it’s just a matter of when,” Topol said. “… [People] sure aren’t going to be looking up [their calorie intake] on a calorie book… This is the biggest chance we have at improving obesity around the world.”

Topol also pointed out examples where wireless transmissions could help those with genetic predisposition to atrial fibrillation or breast cancer.

Here at Pathway, we’re also working to deliver our DNA HealthGuard updates to your cell phone. For those unfamiliar, DNA HealthGuard is a service that will automatically notify you as science advances with new findings or new drugs are developed that apply to your specific genome.

Read the story on how Dr. Topol sees wireless devices advancing at Mobile Health News.

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As many have noticed, Pathway Genomics publicly announced its innovative genetic testing service today. As both a thank you and incentive for stopping by early, we’re offering the first 500 who purchase a genetic test through our pathway.com website, a 15% discount off any order. Just enter the code MYPATH when prompted for a coupon code.

Pathway Genomics offers affordable genetic tests for under $250, enabling you to confidentially learn about risk for various diseases, adverse drug responses, carrier status and ancestral history. Leveraging customized and highly innovative DNA genotyping technologies, Pathway Genomics generates the most extensive analysis of an individual’s risk for disease and can trace the path of a person’s maternal and paternal ancestry back more than 150,000 years.

Find out why Pathway delivers the most value in the genetic testing industry by visiting pathway.com and take advantage of the 15% discount using the MYPATH coupon code if you’re one of the first 500 to place an order.

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For those of you who may have missed Dr. Michael Nova on Extra TV June 13, you can view the clip right here. Pathway Genomics is featured first. We’ve included the whole minute and a half “breakthroughs in medicine” segment below. Enjoy!

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This weekend — June 13-14 — Pathway Genomics will be featured on Extra TV’s weekend segment, Lifechangers. Tune in to see the piece on Saturday afternoon, channels 9/51 KUSI @ 5pm (San Diego). For any viewers in LA, access channel 4, KNBC @ 3pm. For LA only, this piece will air again on Sunday at 12:35pm, same channel. For additional viewing times across the country, check out the Extra TV Schedule.

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Hard to believe, but there are now 57 million Americans with “prediabetes” — meaning they’re at risk of developing diabetes, the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States. Even more alarming is the fact another 24 million have diabetes, most of which (90 to 95 percent).

Unfortunately, because there’s no real pain or discomfort early on, most people don’t realize how serious their risk is. Type 2 diabetes typically appears in adults and is associated with obesity, physical inactivity, family history (genetics) and other factors.

At Pathway Genomics, we don’t just tell you that you have genetic markers that have been associated with diseases such as diabetes. We want to provide action steps you can take to help reduce your risk. Diabetes is a great example of a disease that you don’t ever have to develop, even if you have a higher than normal genetic predisposition. There are plenty of diet and exercise steps you can take to significantly reduce your risk.

It’s important to understand that not everyone who gets type 2 diabetes is overweight or sucks down a lot of sugar and carbohydrates. Up to 20 percent of people with the disease have a normal weight. It’s no secret that genetics and environment play a huge role and getting a genetic test to learn whether you have higher than normal risk is just the first step to changing behavior.

Exercise has been repeatedly shown to do much more than just control your weight. “It increases muscle mass — and healthier muscle is more responsive to insulin, lowering blood sugar levels,” according to Tim Church, M.D., Ph.D., of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and co-author of “Move Yourself: The Cooper Clinic Medical Director’s Guide to All the Healing Benefits of Exercise (Even a Little!).”

Church recommends 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (such as walking) at least five days a week and 20 to 30 minutes of resistance training one to two days a week. Combining aerobic exercise with resistance training yields a bigger drop in blood sugar than either type of exercise alone, according to a recent study.

For a good read and excellent detail, check out the CNN post: Diabetes: More than just sugar overload?

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