Those of us who are curious about the hidden secrets encoded in our genes are excited about the new biomedical technologies that give us access to this genetic information. Our genes can tell a story about who we are. Only a “partial” story because we know that our environment and life style will add to the story. A well-established model of health is represented by this equation: Genome*Exposome=Phenome. The Exposome, is the collection of things we are exposed to, our life style and it has great influence on how we feel overall. Science tells us that we can prevent health problems if we are better informed about our “genetic” health risks, Genome and Genotype information, and adapt our life style to fit our genes. The Phenome and phenotypes are the observed outcomes of the interaction between Genome and Exposome, such as an observed disease, a symptom, a physical change such as weight loss or accelerated heart rate, or a mental state like depression or joy. Doctors, therapists and trainers have been measuring our different phenotypes, and have been monitoring our exposome whenever things go wrong, but they and we have little knowledge about our genetic predisposition for certain phenotypes.
And so, we want to know. At $199, or somewhat less with a discount coupon, the price tag for 23andMe genetic testing is only accessible to few. There are other options that are similarly expensive, among them deCODEme and FamilyTreeDNA offer similar genetic testing services. Those prices are expected to drop as more genetic testing services compete against each other and as sequencing technologies become cheaper. When that happens, more people will benefit from understanding their genes and health risks.