We are so excited that you have taken the steps towards understanding how your genetic makeup can influence your health. Genetics can be overwhelming. To make this more approachable, we’re going to discuss some of the genetic principles that 3×4 uses and how they’ve made this abundance of information into an invaluable clinical tool.
Genetic Principles
Your genes are segments of your DNA that are made up of a combination of four different nucleotides. There are four different types of nucleotides that can be found in the human body. These include guanine, cytosine, adenine, and thymine. As we discuss genetic information and the 3×4 test, we will refer to these nucleotides as G, C, A, and T, respectively.
These nucleotides get grouped together in threes to create something called a codon. Examples of codons could be GAT, GCT, TAC, and so on. Codons have a tremendously important role in biology because the groupings are what creates amino acids. They are also involved in the start/stop process of creating proteins.
What is a Genetic Variation?
Genetic variations can be a scary health topic to approach. However, the National Institute of Health defines genetics as the study of inherited variations. These variations are responsible for making the population full of unique individuals!
What exactly is genetic variation? It is the result of a nucleotide being changed within a codon. This can happen four different ways: Insertion, Substitution, Deletion, and Copy Number.
- Insertion is the addition of 1 or more nucleotides in a gene sequence.
- Substitution is when one nucleotide is replaced for another.
- Deletion is when a nucleotide is removed from a gene sequence.
- Copy Number is when sections of the gene sequence are repeated.
However the genetic sequence is being altered, it allows for the potential of different amino acids to be created, which can impact protein synthesis and ultimately how your body functions.
Systems Biology, Upstream Approach to Genetics
3×4 takes a systems biology, upstream approach to the genetic information gathered from their test. Sounds very scientific! But what exactly does that mean? That means that individually, these small genetic variations don’t really tell us much about how our body is predisposed to function. However, by grouping the 134 genes tested into 6 different metabolic pathways, we can more accurately infer how your genes impact your health. The six metabolic pathways the genes are grouped into include: cellular, systems and cardiovascular, energy, activity, and nutrients.
Interpreting and Utilizing Your Results
If you’ve looked over your completed report, you know it is a lot of information to absorb and may leave you feeling overwhelmed. 3×4 is named after the way you and your healthcare provider should review your results and begin to make changes that will have a greater impact on your health. To most effectively review this test, our team will look into the three pathways that have the most impactful genetic variations and make a recommendation for a diet, lifestyle, and supplement change for each of these pathways. You will receive a separate R3 Health report that highlights these impactful pathways, explanations of the important genetic variations, and our specific plan for you.
Your genes and all their variations make you, you.
We are excited to embark on this journey of using the information that makes you unique to elevate your health!
