Geneus™
Why would I want to know….
about my genetic risk towards 350 medical conditions?
With the newest addition to Fakih IVF’s genetic services, through a simple blood test, our in-house Genetics Lab can provide you with a complete overview of your genetic risk factors towards 350 medical conditions. Geneus® is a screening tool that screens DNA for the presence of 2,205 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with 350 medical conditions through blood test. A SNP is a single variation in your DNA. Many SNPs are harmless while others are associated with certain medical conditions. For each condition/disease for which an individual carries an associated SNP(s), Geneus® will provide an approximate risk percentile group; MyGeneus® Risk.
How is MyGeneus™ Risk Calculated?
MyGeneus Risk is assessed based on your ethnicity, whether you carry one or two copies of the SNP, the risk associated with the SNP when looked at in isolation and your family history. MyGeneus® Risk is classified into the following risk percentile categories:
Seldom: < 5%
Low: 5- 10%
Medium: 11 – 50%
High: 51 – 100%
What will my Results Tell me?
Geneus™ will not provide you with yes or no answers. Your report will tell you whether you are at risk of developing a certain disease or condition based on your genetic data and available literature documenting the importance of a particular SNP to disease development in your ethnic background. Genetic risk factors are not guarantees that you will or will not develop a condition. In many cases, the presence of a particular Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) may only place a minor role in your risk for a disease, compared with environmental and lifestyle factors. Your genetic counselor will explain each risk present in your report in detail. You will have the opportunity to ask any questions, voice any concerns and gain guidance on the next best steps.
For example, if you receive results stating that you are at risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes this means that you are at higher risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes than the general population and your lifestyle and diet should be changed accordingly. On the other hand, if you find that you are at equal or lower risk of developing a specific condition/disease than the general population, this does not mean that you can forget the usual precautions.
Remember, your health is determined by genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors. Regular checkups and a healthy lifestyle are very important, regardless of your genetic risk factors.
What conditions are included in the Personalized Medicine Panel?
- Ancestry: Geneus™ looks thousands of years into familial history and details disease susceptibility based on ancestral background, know as a haplogroup. Y-chromosome haplogrouping provides details on your paternal ancestry, while mitochondrial haplogrouping provides insight into the maternal ancestry.
- Age Related Conditions: Alzheimer’s, Age Related Macular Degeneration, Bone Density, Dementia, Degenerative Arthritis, Hearing Loss (Early and Late Onset), Memory Loss, Osteoarthritis, Parkinson’s, Skin Aging, Vision Loss and Wrinkles
- Allergies and Immune Disorders: Asthma, Arthritis, Crohn’s, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, Gout, Grave’s Disease, and Immunological Disorders of the Skin, Ears, Joints and Teeth
- Liver and Kidney Diseases: Acidosis, Acute Renal Failure, Agenesis, Alcoholic Liver Disease, Cystitis, Diabetic Kidney Disease, Fabry Disease, Fatty Liver Disease, Hemochromatosis, Hepatitis Susceptibility, Kidney Failure, Kidney Stones, Liver Cirrhosis, Liver Cysts, Liver Fibrosis, Primary Liver Cancer and Wilson’s Disease
- Cancers: Breast, Bladder, Cervical, Endometrial, Ovarian, Colon and Gastric, Esophageal, Gallbladder, Glioma, Leukemia, Liver, Lung, Lymphoma, Melanoma, Pancreatic, Prostate, Testicular, Skin and Thyroid
- Heart Related Conditions: Aortic Aneurysms, Atrial Fibrillation, Cardiovascular Diseases, Coronary Artery Diseases, Heart Attack, High Blood Pressure, Stroke, Sudden Cardiac Arrest, Thickening of the Artery Walls and Heart Muscles and other conditions of the Heart
- Diabetes: Diabetic Retinopathy, Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes,
- Metabolism and Eating Habits: Bulimia Nervosa, Caffeine Intolerance, Driver for thinness, Hyperparathyroidism, Hyperthyroidism, Loss of Appetite, Medication Metabolism, Obesity, Response to diet, Weight Fluctuation Syndrome and Childhood Personality Disorder which can affect Eating Habits
- Other Conditions: Drug Addition, Alcohol Abuse, Male Baldness, Vitiligo, Sciatica, Restless Leg Syndrome, Odor Sensitivity, Pain, Sleep Apnea and Tendency towards Gambling
- Infertility and Reproductive Health: Men: Erectile Dysfunction, Sex Hormone Regulation leading to Male Infertility. Women: Premature Ovarian Failure, Ovarian Reserve, Female Sexual Dysfunction, Menopause, Sex Hormone Regulation, Endometriosis and Complications during Pregnancy: Placental Abruption, Pre-eclampsia and Cholestasis of Pregnancy
- Intellectual Abilities and Social Behavior: Anxiety, Autism, Bipolar Disorder, Cognition, Depression Dyslexia, IQ, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Schizophrenia, Social Phobia, Mathematical Ability and Disability, Speech Disorders, Stress, Suicidal Ideation and other Rare Intellectual Disabilities and Social Behavior-Related Conditions
- HLA Typing: Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) is part of DNA that helps in distinguishing the body’s own proteins from proteins made by foreign invaders such as bacteria and viruses. Oftentimes, couples with closely matched HLA have difficulty in conceiving. If a couple is deemed to have closely matched HLA, medical protocols during IVF treatment will be altered. HLA typing may also be used to identify donors of bone marrow or stem cells.
- Thrombosis, Blood Clots and Bleeding Disorders: Thrombosis is the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel, obstructing the flow of blood. If left untreated, thrombosis is a serious condition. Conditions include Factor XI Deficiency, Factor V Leiden, Prothrombin Mutation, Venous Thrombosis, MTHFR, Factor II and Platelet Aggregation
- Ophthalmological Disorders: Various types of Glaucoma, Cataract, Diabetic Retinopathy and Myopia
What can I expect to learn from my results: MyGeneus™ Report
Geneus™ will provide you with a personalized report detailing each of the Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) present in your DNA, the disease or condition that they are associated with and MyGeneus™ Risk for each condition. Your genetic counselor will explain each risk present in your report in detail. During this time, you will have the opportunity to ask any questions, voice any concerns and gain guidance on the next best steps.
Next Steps:
What is Personalized Medicine?
Personalized medicine uses genetic information, family history, lifestyle and environmental factors to customize health management. Utilizing this information allows for more accurate predictions about a person’s susceptibility of developing a disease and response to medications and allows you to take preventative steps towards protecting your future self and feeling better today.
About the test:
Geneus™ is a genetic screening test completed by Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). Next Generation Sequencing is the new generation of genetics technology that has brought DNA sequencing to an unprecedented speed, enabling impressive scientific achievements. Until recently, genetic testing technology sequencing larger areas of genes was laborious, costly and only performed in specialized laboratories under research basis rather than on a commercialized diagnostic level. The advent of technologies, such as Next Generation Sequencing, in which multiple genes and larger areas of the genes can be tested simultaneously and efficiently, has recently changed the face of genetic testing.
Geneus’™ Next Generation Sequencing Panel is a unique genetic test that was customized exclusively for Viafet Genomics Laboratory. As such, it is not provided by any other laboratory worldwide. The panel is based on Genome-Wide Associated Studies (GWAS) involving multiethnic participants and a minimum of 5,000 patients and 10,000 controls, increasing the accuracy of the results. The panel also includes all possible SNPs related to a particular condition, whether reported in a GWAS or in other scientific literature, allowing for the most comprehensive testing possible.
If you are concerned or curious about your genetic predispositions, contact genetics@fakihivf.com to speak with a genetic counselor today.
