DNA tests will tell you what to eat and how to be treated
21.10.2021
Studying their own heredity will help people more consciously take care of their health and the health of their children. This was stated by Maria Vorontsova, a leading researcher at the National Medical Research Center of Endocrinology of the Ministry of Health of Russia, a member of the Presidium of the Russian Association for the Promotion of Science of the Russian Federation, during an expert session at the III Eurasian Women's Forum in St. Petersburg.
According to experts, in the future, every person should have access to consultations of geneticists so that they can avoid chronic diseases and not pass on "bad genes" to their children.
Plans for the future
The issue of health in the family is always the prerogative of a woman, as it happened historically, Maria Vorontsova believes. “Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, if not us, then who? I invite everyone to think about how we can take a more responsible attitude to the health of ours and our children, ”she called on the forum participants.
One of these methods is to study one's own heredity at the stage of family and child planning, said Elena Baranova, medical director of Evogen LLC, to the forum participants. Today, for example, every 40th person carries a gene due to which his child can be born with spinal muscular atrophy, every fourth person is a carrier of the cystic fibrosis gene. All these are rare and very serious diseases that require expensive treatment.
“If we meet a partner with the same mutation, then with a probability of 25 percent a child will be born with this disease,” Baranova explained. Carrier screening for dangerous genetic diseases will help prevent this, she added.
Genetic studies at the stage of pregnancy are no less important, Baranova noted. Today in Russia expectant mothers undergo standard screening - ultrasound and blood tests. If studies show that a child may have a chromosomal pathology, then you have to take material from the fetus, for which you need to make a puncture in the mother's abdomen - the procedure is not pleasant. It can be avoided with non-invasive prenatal testing. “A woman donates blood for analysis, and genetics isolate and analyze DNA fragments of the unborn child, checking for the presence of extra chromosomes,” the expert explained.
She noted that in Moscow and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, such studies are already being carried out free of charge for all expectant mothers.
“It is much more effective to identify any pathology before it develops than to treat it,” concluded Baranova. "We have opportunities in medical genetics, and let's not neglect them and pass on to our children the most valuable thing possible - good genes."
Personal warnings
The next 50-100 years will be the era of genetics, says Ancha Baranova, chief researcher at the functional genomics laboratory at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Medical Genetic Research Center. In fact, genetics is already ready to “enter absolutely every home,” she stressed.
The expert hopes that soon each person will receive a detailed consultation with a geneticist and a detailed genetic map, thanks to which he will know what dangerous diseases he can transmit to his children, and which he himself may develop. Knowing your own health risks, you can adjust your lifestyle - avoid certain drugs, food, increase physical activity, and so on.
“It's like a Wild Animals road sign that warns that a deer or elk might run out onto the road. Maybe he will not run out, but the person will already be careful on this section of the road, ”Baranova gave an example.
In addition, according to the expert, the development of technology will make it possible to reduce the cost of genetic research and therapy in the future. First of all, we are talking about genomic editing, which will help correct defects in children born with hereditary diseases, explained Ancha Baranova.
So far, genetic tests are available only on a commercial basis, but this is no longer an exclusive thing, Russian geneticist Vadim Pospelov told Parlamentskaya Gazeta. “In the near future, I think, express tests will be available to almost any Russian. Today the prices for such screenings are steadily falling, ”he said.
He said that many clinics use remote rapid tests. A person needs to send a saliva sample by mail, and the result will be sent to him within two to three weeks. “Such a test can be done according to the selected spectrum - sports, healthy eating, diabetes, dietetics, quality of life. You can even order an analysis on whether you can drink coffee and how much - in accordance with your genetic makeup, "- said Pospelov.
According to experts, in the future, every person should have access to consultations of geneticists so that they can avoid chronic diseases and not pass on "bad genes" to their children.
Plans for the future
The issue of health in the family is always the prerogative of a woman, as it happened historically, Maria Vorontsova believes. “Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, if not us, then who? I invite everyone to think about how we can take a more responsible attitude to the health of ours and our children, ”she called on the forum participants.
One of these methods is to study one's own heredity at the stage of family and child planning, said Elena Baranova, medical director of Evogen LLC, to the forum participants. Today, for example, every 40th person carries a gene due to which his child can be born with spinal muscular atrophy, every fourth person is a carrier of the cystic fibrosis gene. All these are rare and very serious diseases that require expensive treatment.
“If we meet a partner with the same mutation, then with a probability of 25 percent a child will be born with this disease,” Baranova explained. Carrier screening for dangerous genetic diseases will help prevent this, she added.
Genetic studies at the stage of pregnancy are no less important, Baranova noted. Today in Russia expectant mothers undergo standard screening - ultrasound and blood tests. If studies show that a child may have a chromosomal pathology, then you have to take material from the fetus, for which you need to make a puncture in the mother's abdomen - the procedure is not pleasant. It can be avoided with non-invasive prenatal testing. “A woman donates blood for analysis, and genetics isolate and analyze DNA fragments of the unborn child, checking for the presence of extra chromosomes,” the expert explained.
She noted that in Moscow and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, such studies are already being carried out free of charge for all expectant mothers.
“It is much more effective to identify any pathology before it develops than to treat it,” concluded Baranova. "We have opportunities in medical genetics, and let's not neglect them and pass on to our children the most valuable thing possible - good genes."
Personal warnings
The next 50-100 years will be the era of genetics, says Ancha Baranova, chief researcher at the functional genomics laboratory at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Medical Genetic Research Center. In fact, genetics is already ready to “enter absolutely every home,” she stressed.
The expert hopes that soon each person will receive a detailed consultation with a geneticist and a detailed genetic map, thanks to which he will know what dangerous diseases he can transmit to his children, and which he himself may develop. Knowing your own health risks, you can adjust your lifestyle - avoid certain drugs, food, increase physical activity, and so on.
“It's like a Wild Animals road sign that warns that a deer or elk might run out onto the road. Maybe he will not run out, but the person will already be careful on this section of the road, ”Baranova gave an example.
In addition, according to the expert, the development of technology will make it possible to reduce the cost of genetic research and therapy in the future. First of all, we are talking about genomic editing, which will help correct defects in children born with hereditary diseases, explained Ancha Baranova.
So far, genetic tests are available only on a commercial basis, but this is no longer an exclusive thing, Russian geneticist Vadim Pospelov told Parlamentskaya Gazeta. “In the near future, I think, express tests will be available to almost any Russian. Today the prices for such screenings are steadily falling, ”he said.
He said that many clinics use remote rapid tests. A person needs to send a saliva sample by mail, and the result will be sent to him within two to three weeks. “Such a test can be done according to the selected spectrum - sports, healthy eating, diabetes, dietetics, quality of life. You can even order an analysis on whether you can drink coffee and how much - in accordance with your genetic makeup, "- said Pospelov.
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