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Health
review on 14 May 2018
by Rebecca Fishwick
At a Glance
Summary
The results provided by yourDNAportal seemed quite accurate. I had all of the appearance-related traits I expected to have, which made me trust the other results more than I might otherwise have done. I thought that the genetic health risks were maybe a bit too alarming, though they did not diagnose any health conditions, and only reported on the genetic variants that might make me more susceptible to certain conditions. Still, others might say that forewarned is forearmed.
Full Review
yourDNAportal was started in 2017 by Gemma Rooney, and is based in London, England. Their website offers free DNA services for anyone with a digital copy of their genetic data. Their online tools are focussed on allowing people to explore their genealogy, and how their genes might impact their health.
Product Expectations
The yourDNAportal site was basic, though not entirely without polish. On their homepage, I saw that their digital DNA testing services included analyses of how my genetics might influence my health, the nutrition I require, and my athletic abilities.
I read that I could also “connect with DNA relatives” and build a family tree. They advertised their forum, though clicking on this I saw that it was “coming soon”.
I was interested to see that as they improved, which they planned to do on a regular basis, they would continue to offer their users updates on their personalised results. For a free service, I thought this was quite generous.
There were four different health tools I could choose from: ‘Your Traits’, ‘Your Health Risks’, ‘Your Inherited Conditions’ and ‘Your Drug Response’.
Ordering Experience
Before I could take any tests, I had to register with yourDNAportal. I needed to create a username and password, as well as provide my name and email address. Before signing up, I had to agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
I had a look through both of these. In the Terms of Use, I found that by uploading my genetic data to yourDNAportal, I was granting them a “non-exclusive, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free and perpetual licence” to use my data to perform their services. But I was able to revoke this licence by writing and asking them to delete my account and data. They made it very clear that any information provided by them didn’t constitute as medical advice, and I wasn’t to interpret it as such.
In the Privacy Policy, I saw that while yourDNAportal would not share my information with third parties without my permission or requirement by law, they might use my personal information to send me promotional information about third parties if I agreed to this. I could also request the details of any personal information yourDNAportal held about me under the Data Protection Act 1998.
Shortly after signing up, I was sent a confirmation email. To avoid any potential problems, I confirmed my email before continuing.
I decided to go ahead and upload my data. On the upload page, I found links with information on how to purchase a DNA test if I hadn’t yet had one, and instructions on how to download my genetic data from my test provider. This included guides on downloading from 23andMe, AncestryDNA and Family Tree DNA.
I had my 23andMe data downloaded, and so I uploaded the file to the site. The upload was almost instant, and I was then able to access yourDNAportal’s online tools.
The Results
The first test I tried was ‘Your Traits’. I thought this would be useful to check the accuracy of the tests, since it included physical traits such as hair colour, height, lactose tolerance and alcohol response, which are pretty self-evident.
Results Section: Your Traits
At first glance, the results were a little confusing, as it appeared as if I had multiple conflicting traits, since I saw both “Straighter Hair” and “Hair Curl” listed, and “Blond Hair” and “Red Hair” (shown below).
A section of my genetic traits results.
Clicking on each trait, I was shown the associated gene reference. Clicking on “Straighter Hair”, I was told that people with my genotype are more likely to have straighter hair. The gene they referenced was “rs11803731AA” (shown below).
The Straighter Hair genotype.
This sounded right to me. Browsing down the list, I found I didn’t have the genetic variants for “Blond Hair and Blue Eyes” or “Blond hair, Lighter Hair”, though I did carry one copy of the “Blond Hair” genotype, which apparently made me “two times more likely” to have blonde hair, which I don’t. As yet, there were no genetic variants listed for dark hair.
I also found I was more likely to have freckles (I have a few, though not in abundance), and that I was likely to have light skin and be of medium height – both of which are true. I also found I had a high caffeine metabolism (which I suspected) and was less likely to be lactose intolerant (as I know).
Results Section: Your Genetic Health Risks
My ‘Health Risks’ results were not very alarming at first. I found I had the genotypes associated with normal folate metabolism, lower vitamin B6 levels, and an average risk of heart disease or stroke (could have been better; could have been worse).
A little more worryingly, I saw I had an increased risk for type-2 diabetes, a 1.3x higher risk of developing ER+ breast cancer, an increased risk of coeliac disease, an increased risk of skin cancer, and an increased risk of something called Prion Disease or Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD). I looked this up, and discovered that it was a rare, degenerative, and fatal brain disease!
The genotype associated with a higher risk of Prion Disease/CJD.
All this time, I had been followed around the site by a little footer beginning, “Important: yourDNAportal.com does not diagnose any medical condition…” Here, I read that the results given by yourDNAportal are for information purposes only, and not to make any health decisions based on them. They suggested that if I had any questions or concerns I should consult with a health professional.
This all seemed reasonable to me, though I wondered why they had included the genetic traits associated with such serious diseases as cancer and CJD for a test which is not a medical diagnosis. The results might be useful for people who want to work on reducing their risk of cancer or type-2 diabetes, but perhaps there should be an option not to view these types of results, which you can see in the summary table (shown below).
A section of my health risks table.
Results Section: Inherited Conditions and Drug Response
I had a quick look at the ‘Inherited Conditions’ page, and found I was negative for all of them, as I expected.
Similarly, for the five drugs listed on the ‘Drug Response page’, I had “normal”, “average” or “good” responses.
Summary
The results provided by yourDNAportal seemed quite accurate. I had all of the appearance-related traits I expected to have, which made me trust the other results more than I might otherwise have done. I thought that the genetic health risks were maybe a bit too alarming, though they did not diagnose any health conditions, and only reported on the genetic variants that might make me more susceptible to certain conditions. Still, others might say that forewarned is forearmed.