This unique chemical makeup has sparked the interest of several areas of health and have created the fields of Pharmacogenetics and Nutragenetics. Pharmacogenetics is the prospect of combining pharmacology and genomic capabilities. This science would be a breakthrough because more than 100,000 people die each year as a result of adverse responses to medications that are beneficial to thousands of other individuals. 2.2 million people experience serious reactions and others don’t respond at all. In combination with genetics each individual’s genetic makeup can be assessed before prescribing a generic product. Nutragenetics would also examine the individual’s unique make-up and determine which vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients are necessary for optimal health.

We have mapped our genetic structure and we are unraveling the working of human biology. This has enormous implications including a new understanding of what specific nutrients best serve our unique genetic, physical and bio-chemical makeup. Nutrients along with certain lifestyle modifications, can support our strengths and balance our weaknesses.

Our genes hold the answer to determining our lifestyle and nutrient well being.

Genomics, as a segment of the healthcare industry, can potentially illuminate the path to avoiding serious illness. With rising health care costs and the cost of pharmaceutical medications soaring, more people are taking health into their own hands. Not only are they seeking alternative therapies for their ailments, but they are thinking more about prevention. However, the messages about how to stay healthy have been overwhelming and quite mixed. There is no clear-cut answer as to how to stay healthy.

We now have the opportunity to catch a glimpse of our unique risk of developing certain conditions through DNA testing. Not only will we be able to determine which areas of our own health we should focus on, but some direction as to which nutritional products will best serve our individual needs in the area of preventive health.

Best-selling author, economist and futurist Paul Zane Pilzer, in his book The Next Trillion wrote:

“By examining a person’s DNA, which can be taken from the mouth with just a small swab or scraping device. It is already possible to predict the probability that a person will develop certain diseases. And soon, based on the recently completed mapping of the human genome, it should be possible to predict every forthcoming disease or condition not caused by external (i.e. diet and exercise) factors.

Genomic Science has given physicians one more tool to use when treating their patients. A physician may use DNA testing to find out his patient’s starting point for health, then with further testing the physician can determine where his patient has been. It is at this point that a physician will best be able to work with his patient to establish the most appropriate program available for that individual, including nutritional supplements.

GENOMICS - THE HUMAN BOOK OF LIFE

Genome science began formally in 1990 with the establishment of the Human Genome Project. This enormous project is the combined effort between the United States Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. The project was based on the mission of pursuing a greater understanding of individual health risks. The Human Genome Project goals were to generate a high-quality reference sequence and identify all human genes, as well as enhance computational resources to support future research and commercial applications.

There are approximately 35,000 genes in the Human Genome, however, functions for more than half of discovered genes are unknown. Genes are made up of DNA base pairs arranged in a double-helix formation. Our individual uniqueness lies in the small differences of bases that can exist where single base DNA differences (SNPs) occur in humans. The SNP information promises to revolutionize the process of finding gene locations for disease-associated sequences. Finding the DNA sequences underlying such common diseases as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis, and cancer is being aided by the human SNP maps. These genes and SNPs provide focused targets for the development of effective new therapies.

Our physical uniqueness is largely due to SNPs

The DNA between any two humans is about 99.9% identical. Except for identical twins, variations in just a small fraction of our DNA account for the major ways in which one human is different from another. These small variations in DNA are called SNPs, which stands for ‘single nucleotide polymorphisms’ or (SNPs, pronounced ‘snips’). Scientists have identified about 1.4 million locations where single-base DNA differences occur in humans. This information promises to revolutionize the process of finding chromosomal locations for disease-associated sequences.

Researcher Bruce Ames Ph.D., from the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at University of California, Berkeley wrote in his review article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences: Cancer Prevention and Diet: Help from Single Nucleotide Polymorphism:

“…Understanding causality is the prerequisite for effective action. Causality can be established by combining epidemiology, a key tool for identifying major risk factors, with research on mechanism. It is becoming apparent that a better understanding of nutrition and nutrition-genetic interaction will be one important consequence of the genomic revolution.”

How the knowledge of SNPs can be used to improve our lives

The awesome feat of compiling the Book of Life was accomplished by technologies that spelled out the entire human DNA genome (made up of the chemical base pairs symbolized by the letters A,G,C and T). Simply, we can think of DNA as a string of 3 billion of these letters, in which the sequence of letters follows a precise order. If we compare the DNA sequence of any two people, we sometimes see variation in a letter. This letter variation is a SNP. For example, at a specific position along the string of DNA, one person may have the letter “A “ whereas another person may have the letter “T”. These variations (SNPs) occur, on average, once in every 2,000 letters of the DNA.

Pharmacogenetics: SNPs seem to explain why people react differently to different types or amounts of medicines. For example, patients can react differently to the same heart medication, such as a “beta-blocker”. Since SNPs can affect the structure and function of proteins and enzymes, they can influence how efficiently a medicine is absorbed and metabolized. A major goal of the pharmacogenetics industry is to use the science of SNPs to determine which drugs are most suitable for any given patient.

THE NEW SCIENCE OF NUTRAGENETICS

Nutragenetics is a combination of the sciences of genetics and nutrition that reveals personalized information regarding an individual’s status and provides the basis for selecting a dietary and nutritional program best suited to achieving the healthiest and longest life possible.

• Nutragenetics uses SNP testing to identify areas of an individual’s genetic make-up that may be functioning less than optimally.
• Nutragenetics will help guide individuals in choosing the optimal combination of nutrients and vitamins, matched to their unique genetic make-up.

For the first time, this revolutionary SNP science is making it possible to personalize and tailor health care products. How is this done?

SNPs guide personalization of nutrient formulations.

The SNP profile test examines a variety of genes which are responsible for making proteins that play key biochemical roles. These include oxidative stress, heart and circulatory health, immune health, bone health, and defense against environmental pollutants.

If the SNP test predicts that you might not be as efficient as possible in any given health area, you can do something about it. For every SNP tested, there are compensating enhancing nutrients that can put you on the path toward optimal health. Thereby complementing your body and eliminating the guesswork of formulating a nutritional supplement program.

It is logical then that everyone should use a basic multivitamin and mineral formulation to cover the major areas of nutrition, and only take additional ingredients based upon the SNP test.

This means that now you can use a more scientific approach to being proactive in doing your best to prevent health problems that might otherwise occur later in life. We all know that good nutritional care is important in preventing cancer, heart disease and osteoporosis, and in defending against other diseases.

Again, Researcher Bruce Ames Ph.D., in Cancer Prevention and Diet: Help from Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms, wrote:

“Optimizing micronutrient intake (through better diets, fortification of foods, or multivitamin-mineral pills) can have a major impact on public health at low cost. Other micronutrients are likely to be added to the list of those whose deficiency causes DNA damage in the coming years. Tuning-up human metabolism, which varies with genetic constitution and changes with age, is likely to be a major way to minimize DNA damage, improve health, and prolong healthy lifespan, and a drop of blood [a cheek swab] or a gene chip could be part of the way to accomplish this.”

Further:

“It is already apparent that there are many polymorphisms that influence risk in heart disease. Single nucleotide polymorphisms provide a powerful molecular tool for investigating the role of nutrition in human health and disease, and their integration into clinical, metabolic, and epidemiologic studies can contribute enormously to the definition of optimal diets.