DNA FAQs

The science has to be strong. The association between the genetic marker and the condition must have been published in a top-tier, peer-reviewed journal and replicated at least once. It is then reviewed by our team of Ph.D. geneticists for accuracy and validity.

You have to be able to do something about the health conditions – try to prevent them, detect them early, get early treatment, reduce or delay the effects they have on your life.

We probe your DNA for SNPs, or single nucleotide polymorphisms, and for insertion/deletion polymorphisms, where nucleotides are added to or deleted from the genome. These serve as markers of your risk for common health conditions.

Just because you have a predisposition for a certain condition does not mean you will develop it. But you have a greater genetic risk than someone who does not have those gene variants.

We compare your own genetic markers with the data reported by researchers in scientific journals. Then we convert those results to a more accessible scale: your estimated lifetime risk of having that condition.

Navigenics examines your DNA with the aim of analyzing and reporting on each of these markers. For most of our customers, this analysis provides a complete genetic report on all of the genetic markers we currently test for. If our initial analysis does not provide a result for one of your markers, we will reanalyze your DNA with the aim of achieving the most complete results possible with our service.

Occasionally, the test will not be able to determine your result at a particular marker, even in the absence of any laboratory or sample collection errors that are a normal part of the genetic analysis process. The Navigenics laboratory will work to provide the most complete genetic results possible with our service, but in some cases, due to factors beyond our control, such as factors inherent in some samples or some people’s DNA, the repeat testing will not provide additional information. In that case, the marker will not be included in your risk estimate.

No. It means your genetic risk is higher than most other people's. And by doing something about it, you might in fact avoid the health condition entirely.

No one gets "negative" results on our genetic test. If we tell you that you have no known genetic risk markers for a condition, it doesn't guarantee that you won't get it. It means that your risk is lower than people with those risk markers. But these health conditions have many causes, genetic and environmental, some of which are not yet known.

Most of our customers receive a complete report on all of the genetic markers we currently test for. If further laboratory analysis is needed on one of your markers and we need additional DNA to analyze, Navigenics works with you to obtain an additional saliva sample and repeat the genetic analysis to try to provide the most complete results possible with our service.

If we cannot report on one of your markers, even after repeat analysis, you’ll still receive valuable health information. For most of our health conditions, your results are derived from more than one marker. You’ll also receive results for health conditions not affected by the non-reported marker.

We also make sure you have the support you need. If we cannot report on one of your markers, our board-certified Genetic Counselors will be available to answer your questions and help you understand your results.

Because common health conditions stem from a mix of genetic and environmental causes, it is difficult to determine exactly which factors led to the condition. Your genes are only part of the picture.

There are two key factors that determine your overall risk estimate – the effect of a genetic variant in your ancestral population and how often the variant occurs in that population.

Most genome-wide association studies (the science on which Navigenics' service is based) have only been performed on people of European ancestry. Relatively few studies have been conducted in other ancestral groups, or in mixed-ancestry individuals. These studies generally show that the effects of genetic variants included in the Navigenics service are the same across ancestral groups. That means if you are found to have increased or decreased risk for a specific condition, that should not change based on your ancestry.

However, the overall amount of increased or decreased risk may vary based on how commonly or uncommonly the variation occurs. Keep in mind that when we compare your risk to that of the general population, this is how you compare to a Caucasian reference population, not necessarily a population of your own ancestry. Our reference population currently is made up of Americans of European descent from the International HapMap Project, the largest publicly available genetic database. As data on more reference populations become available, we anticipate that we will be able to compare you to a reference group that more closely resembles your own ancestry.

Also, keep in mind that some diseases may be more common in your ancestral groups than in our Caucasian reference population. For instance, prostate cancer is more common in those of African ancestry than Caucasian ancestry. For these diseases, your results report will include special considerations to note based on ancestry.

We will keep you updated over time as scientific discoveries continue to inform our understanding of how genetic variants relate to specific ancestries, and how this knowledge may, or may not, affect your test results.

You may want to let your family members know about the risk markers you have, because they may have some of the same markers and also be at risk for some of the same health conditions. However, in most cases, there is no way to know for sure which markers they have unless they also get tested. While your spouse does not share any DNA with you, your parents, siblings and children do. You may want to speak with one of our Genetic Counselors before discussing your genetic test results with people with whom you share DNA.

If your children are 18 or older and are interested, they can be tested too. Keep in mind that your children may not have inherited your risk markers.

First, remember that this test is designed to uncover conditions for which you may be at risk, based on your genetics. It is not a diagnostic test. Our Genetic Counselors can help you understand what your genetic test results mean. For medical advice, you should ask your health care provider about diagnostic options. To make an appointment with one of our Genetic Counselors, call Member Service at (866) 522-1585 (US and Canada) or +1 (650) 585-7743. If it's an after-hours emergency, your call will be routed to a service that can contact a Genetic Counselor. (Of course, in a medical or psychiatric emergency you should call 911.)