23 and Me and related direct to consumer (DTC) genomic reports are likely less expensive then IntellxxDNA™ Here is how IntellxxDNA™ is different:
1. Content: Each company chooses, on what genomic information they would like to focus. The focus of IntellxxDNA™ is actionable, clinically relevant genetic variants. Specifically, it focuses on improving outcomes, preventing chronic illnesses and optimizing brain health.
2. Clinical Relevance: Whether or not the genomic information presented by a tool is clinically relevant is an important and distinguishing factor that must be considered when deciding to use a specific test. But even more importantly, along with that clinically relevant information, what does the test offer in terms of potential modifications? In other words, is it actionable? What will you do with the results? The IntellxxDNA™ report presents actionable information that is explained to the patient.
3. Reproducibility: The various technologies used both to harvest and more importantly, to analyze genomic data has varying benefits, as well as varying levels of reproducibility and reliability. At IntellxxDNA™ they have contracted with a CLIA/CAP certified lab that uses a variety of techniques to obtain accurate patient genotype information. Downloading large amounts of raw data from a direct-to-consumer test designed primarily for ancestry information and “edutainment” is not appropriate for medical decision making. Having worked with a validation lab, IntellxxDNA™ states with confidence that some of the downloadable SNPs in the raw data have accuracy of less than 50%. There are important variants such as Apo E2 that validate at less than 75% accuracy and that is why the 23andMe health report does not report on many variants. You will note the boxed warning on the 23andMe raw data page.
“The raw data provided by 23andMe has undergone a general quality review however only a subset of markers has been individually validated for accuracy. The data from 23andMe’s Browse Raw Data feature is suitable only for informational use and not for medical, diagnostic or other use. Consult with a healthcare professional before making any major lifestyle changes.”
4. Chronic Diseases are Multifactorial: Many DTC companies look at genes or SNPs independently rather than in combination. This action limits the information that can be provided about a particular disease state, what the SNPs mean clinically and what can be done. IntellxxDNA™ reports on panels of interpreted key contributing SNPs and key SNPs that relay benefit. This provides a more complete picture for discussion and can be reassuring to a patient that their “genes are not all bad”.
5. Robust Number of SNPs Evaluated in Each Panel: Some companies will report on a health risk by identifying only two SNPs in a disease pathway. For example, in a well-known DTC health report test reporting on Parkinson’s, if the patient has 0 SNPs in their Parkinson’s profile, the patient might assume that they will not get Parkinson’s. However, this test is choosing to look at only 2 SNPs when there are more than 100 SNPs that have been associated with Parkinson’s Disease risk and the 2 they present only explains about 5% or less of Parkinson’s.
In summary IntellxxDNA™ uses nutrigenomics in an actionable, relevant, in-depth, and research-based capacity.
