These days, many of us are familiar with genetic testing such as the 23andMe ancestry testing, paternity testing or the diagnostic BRCA gene test which looks for DNA changes that increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
Less well known is the fact that a person’s DNA can also provide insights into the best fitness and nutrition plans for their own body.
Earlier this year, Coralisle Group Ltd partnered with biotech firm, CariGenetics, to offer members of their Zest Wellness Biometric Screening programme the option to participate in a genetic wellness testing programme which shows them just that: which food and what type of exercise will have the most desired impact, based on their DNA.
The testing is carried out by CariGenetics and the results are shared with the individuals only. They are not shared with CG Insurance. The tests are also non-diagnostic, meaning participants aren’t being tested for any diseases. They are only tested for fitness and nutrition traits.
RG Best Health spoke with CariGenetics founder and CEO, Dr Carika Weldon, and CG’s corporate biometric programme manager, Sharon Looney, about why they have formed this partnership, how the testing works, what benefits it provides to participants and what the future holds for genetic testing in general.
“We’re telling them information about their fitness and nutrition so that they can make decisions about their lifestyle based on what’s going to work best for them, based on their DNA predisposition,” Ms Looney explained.
“We’re not shooting in the dark anymore with their lifestyles. We’re not following trends. Our members are able to choose a path for them that’s personalised.”
Easy process
The test involves a simple cheek swab.
Dr Weldon said: “We can extract the DNA from the sample and that allows us to test what the DNA is saying. We’re just reading what the code is of that person, which is allowing us to figure out what the traits are.”
Genetics, she said, is “like a manual for how your body functions and how your body is made”.
This includes how your body processes different medications; how your body makes insulin; and what is the best diet that you should be using based on how your body metabolises different foods.
Each participant receives a confidential, detailed report which includes information such as optimum diet type, overall metabolic rate, nutritional needs, aerobic exercise response, insulin response to exercise and optimum type of exercise. In total, there are over 30 traits for fitness and over 40 for nutrition.
The amount of information in the report can be overwhelming, so a health and wellness expert analyses it and provides participants with a summary and an action plan. There’s also an online course available:
“They have the pillar of the summary, the action plan, they have the pillar of the education, so the knowledge to help support the decision making and on top of that we have a peer support aspect to it,” Ms Looney said.
Breaking new ground
Peer support is offered by CariGenetics, who work with experienced health coach, Alex Dill. He meets with test participants, explains their reports and gives practical tips based on the results.
“It is a community. You’re in a network of people that are also looking to optimise their health and wellness,” she said.
So far, the genetic wellness testing aspect of the Zest Wellness biometric screening programme has proved popular.
“There’s a lot of excitement around this addition,” Dr Weldon said. “When people come to get the swab they ask the questions and they’re like, ‘Oh, I didn’t know this was even a thing. I didn’t know my DNA could tell me things about my health.’”
Does this mean genetic testing will become more accessible and should we anticipate more partnerships with insurance companies in the future?
Globally, it is already becoming more common and Dr Weldon hopes this will become the case for Bermuda and the Caribbean region:
“In the UK, the NHS has a whole directory of genetic tests that you can order to see if you have rare diseases, especially for children, because there are syndromes that are genetic, but you don’t know that they have them and it usually takes seven years to diagnose a rare disease.
“But, if you just test them when they’re born, which is a project that the UK’s doing, they’re looking to test 100,000 newborns. If you just test from the beginning, you don’t have to wait seven years to figure things out. You just know.”
Exciting future
In the US some insurance companies offer genetic testing which can give members their lifetime risk of certain diseases.
“Not everyone does it, because not everyone wants to know that, but it at least empowers their members to know, ‘Do I have a risk?’
“Bermuda’s not going to be there yet, but that’s where the field and the world is going, is this connection, just be more precise. It’s called precision medicine for that reason. You know what you need instead of just guessing.”
CariGenetics is the first organisation in the Caribbean region to offer genetic wellness testing and separately, their Caribbean genome programme aims to establish “what Caribbean means genetically, because,” said Dr Weldon, “we don’t know that yet.”
She is in conversations with a number of islands and has joined forces with St Lucia-based GenTech Analytica, which was created to increase genetic testing in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States.
Dr Weldon’s vision is to make genetic testing accessible to everyone in the Caribbean.
“We feel like everyone should have their blueprint, their manual, so they know what they should and shouldn’t be doing instead of guessing,” she said.
“This is definitely where the field is going.”
In terms of genetic wellness testing, she added: “CG are great partners. Doing anything for the first time, there’s a lot of things to figure out and we’ve been able to navigate that. It’s exciting to be at the forefront of a new era in wellness.”
