A few milliliters of saliva can tell who you are. Can genetic testing really be so fun?

Have you ever thought about tossing and turning?

"Who am I?" "Where am I from?"

……

These questions?

So if I tell you,

There is a magical black technology,

No injections, no bleeding, as long as XXX yuan,

Send 2ml—4ml saliva to genetic testing company,

You can get an exclusive genetic test report.

This genetic report can not only see your genetic composition,

Let you know how you got here,

How it will disappear in the future,

What are the potential genetic diseases hidden in your body?

It can even tell you how ancestors or family members migrated and evolved.

Let you find your real "happy hometown",

Isn't it amazing? It's amazing!

So, is this black technology called "fortune telling" reliable?

Most people's most intuitive understanding of genes is "as you sow, so you reap", but for genetic testing, the first impression that pops up in your mind is usually paternity testing (DNA identification).

The scientific explanation is that genes are functional fragments of DNA molecules, the basic unit of genetic information and the most basic factor that determines all biological species. Different genes have different codes, which guide the synthesis of different protein, and finally form a complex and unified organic entity.

Genes are the internal cause of our illness. Modern scientific research shows that almost all diseases are related to genes except trauma.

Encyclopedia's explanation of genetic testing is the technology of detecting DNA through blood, other body fluids or cells. It is a method to take the peripheral venous blood or other tissue cells of the subject, amplify their gene information, and then detect the DNA molecular information in the cells of the subject through special equipment to analyze the gene types and gene defects contained in them and whether their expression function is normal or not.

To sum up, gene detection is to detect the molecular information of DNA in the cells of the subjects through special equipment, and analyze various genes contained in them by comparing with the gene bank, so that people can understand their own genetic information.

Don't underestimate this analysis. Accurate genetic test report can make people predict the risk of diseases, avoid or delay the occurrence of diseases by improving living environment and behavior habits, or determine whether there are specific drug targets in the case of malignant diseases, thus making the choice of treatment methods more accurate.

Smaller,

Genetic testing can tell you which method is more suitable for losing weight.

Objectively speaking,

Genetic testing can take back a life in the hands of disease!

In the eyes of many film and television practitioners, genetic testing is like an inspiration muse.

65438-0997 American classic sci-fi film Gattaca sets an overhead world in which "genes decide fate and test results determine the future" as the story background, and gene testing is the main clue to promote the whole story.

Not only science fiction movies, but also the favorite "All's well that ends well" in love movies.

In real life, gene detection technology mostly appears in the medical and health field, and is used for disease diagnosis and disease risk prediction in clinic. At present, the most widely used are the detection, diagnosis and auxiliary diagnosis of hereditary diseases in newborns.

Genetic testing is also used to:

1, disease prevention

Disease = internal cause (genetic factor)+external cause (environmental factor). Internal cause is the foundation, avoiding external cause is the means, and health is the purpose. Through the understanding of internal causes, the influence of external causes can be effectively avoided, thus reducing the risk of illness.

20 13 Angelina Jolie, a famous Hollywood movie star, announced that she had undergone double mastectomy and breast reconstruction. The reason is that her gene was found to carry the mutation of BRCA 1/BRCA2, and the disease probability was as high as 87%. In addition, she has a family history of breast cancer, so she pinned her hopes on mastectomy and successfully reduced the possibility of breast cancer from 87% to 5%.

2. Health management

Help people know that they have certain disease susceptibility genes, actively improve the environment and living habits, and do their own health management.

? 3. Medical guidance

Targeted and directional guidance for clinical physical examination, personalized treatment and medication can reduce medical expenses, improve treatment effect and avoid causing greater harm to human body.

Doron Brauman is both a real estate developer and a pancreatic cancer patient. In 20 15, 44-year-old Duolun was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had metastasized to the liver. The doctor once asserted that he had only a few months to live. Desperate, Duolun accepted the genetic test with the mentality of a dead horse as a living horse doctor, and took corresponding targeted drugs for treatment according to the results. Two years later, the imaging examination showed that the tumor had miraculously disappeared!

Genetic testing is really amazing,

But can saliva really be used for genetic testing?

Sure!

More precisely, oral mucosal epithelial cells in saliva are used for detection. In theory, DNA can be extracted from most cells in the body, including oral mucosal epithelial cells, which have the characteristics of vigorous metabolism, rapid renewal and easy shedding, and can naturally fall into saliva. This cell has a complete human genome DNA sequence.

In general, as long as saliva is collected in strict accordance with the operating instructions, genetic testing can be carried out.

However, it should be noted that most commercial genetic tests are not rigorous and scientific, and the results cannot guarantee accuracy, except for some genetic testing technologies approved for clinical use.

Generally speaking, because the complete human genome DNA sequence can be extracted from saliva, the technology of saliva gene detection itself is reliable.

As for these popular commercial genetic tests of "as long as XXX, the genetic test report will be taken home", let's look at it with the entertainment mentality of satisfying curiosity ~

Genetic testing is a key to unlock the "genetic code" of human beings and a big step for human beings to know themselves.

For us, genetic testing, which not only allows life to continue, but also helps human beings to explore themselves, was once a tangible term, but now with the development of science and technology, it is slowly approaching our lives. People are keen to find the origin of their own lives and explore the secrets of genes, which makes the commercial genetic testing industry develop rapidly.

However, as a new industry with high-tech coverage, the market supervision mechanism of commercial genetic testing is not perfect, the rights and interests of consumers are not well protected, and the test reports are mostly perfunctory.

So, how should we explore our origins?

Don't worry! 65438+February 7th The First Dialogue between Future Anthropologists and Leading Scholars in China takes you to explore the hidden secrets in genes from the perspective of anthropology. ...

If you are interested in genetic testing,

If you are curious about your origins.

Pay close attention to the official account of X scientist WeChat in the future ~

The hidden secrets in genes

Waiting for you to explore ...