Why Genetic Testing

Genetic testing can diagnose disease and can also be used for disease risk prediction. Disease diagnosis is the use of genetic testing technology to detect mutated genes that cause hereditary diseases. Currently, the most widely used genetic testing is the detection of hereditary diseases in newborns, the diagnosis of hereditary diseases and the auxiliary diagnosis of certain common diseases. At present, there are more than 1,000 kinds of hereditary diseases that can be diagnosed by genetic testing technology. So in the medical field to the patient into the genetic testing to determine the cause of the patient's disease.

Genetic testing is through the blood, other body fluids or cells to detect the DNA technology, is to take the test person shed oral mucosa cells or other tissue cells, amplification of its genetic information, through specific equipment to the test person's cells in the DNA molecular information for the test, predict the risk of disease, analysis of the various genes contained in it, so people can understand their own genetic information, and thus improve their own genetic information by improving their own. The genetic information can be analyzed to enable people to understand their own genetic information, so that they can avoid or delay the occurrence of diseases by improving their own living environment and living habits.

Modern medical research has proved that, except for trauma, almost all diseases are related to genes. Like blood is divided into different blood types, normal genes in the human body are also divided into different genotypes, that is, gene polymorphism. Different genotypes have different sensitivities to environmental factors, and sensitive genotypes can cause diseases under the action of environmental factors. In addition, diseases caused directly by abnormal genes alone are known as hereditary diseases.

It can be said that there are three underlying causes of disease:

(1) acquired mutations in genes;

(2) interactions between normal genes and the environment;

(3) inherited genetic defects.

In the vast majority of diseases, the cause can be found in the genes.

Genes, through their guidance of protein synthesis, determine how efficiently the body absorbs food, removes poisons from the body, and responds to infections.

The first group of genetically related diseases, of which there are more than 4,000, are acquired through genes inherited from either the father or the mother.

The second group of diseases are common, such as heart disease, diabetes, and many types of cancer, and are the result of the interaction of multiple genes and multiple environmental factors.

Genes are the chemical carriers of human hereditary information that determines our similarities and dissimilarities with previous generations. When genes "work" properly, the human body can develop and function normally. If a gene is abnormal, even a very small piece of a gene, it can cause developmental abnormalities, disease, and even death.

A healthy body relies on the constant renewal of the body to ensure the normal quantity and quality of proteins, which work in conjunction with each other to ensure the normal execution of the body's various functions. Each protein is the product of a corresponding gene.

Genes can change, and some changes do not cause changes in the quantity or quality of proteins, while others do. Such changes in genes are called mutations. Changes in the quantity or quality of proteins can cause the body to function abnormally and cause disease.

Therefore, genetic testing is an indispensable medical tool.