62 South Bay Accent BEN DUFFY Caldwell, however, was determined to win. Looking for anything that would give his team the edge, he happened to bump into a partner of Vitagene, a company that uses personalized test results to help its clients achieve their health and fitness goals. Caldwell was intrigued, and Vitagene saw the dividends in joining forces with him in his quest. The company arranged for teammates to send in blood and DNA samples and, based on their genetic tests, reciprocated with packs of vitamins tailored to the needs of each team member. Throughout the race, Caldwell and team took the vitamins as directed, stayed healthy throughout the ordeal and ultimately finished in first place. They also set the world record, beating the previous time by 11 hours. Today, Caldwell credits Vitagene as a key component of the team’s victory: “Not only were the vitamins they a factor of our success, but also the way they packaged them made it easy for us to take them under extreme conditions,” says Caldwell. San Francisco-based Vitagene is just one of a growing number of DNA testing companies now revolutionizing the industry. Some provide direct-to-consumer genetic information to anyone at reasonable cost; others require a doctor’s prescription. Both types unravel ancestral, medical and physical mysteries that have challenged us down through the ages, most commonly from traces of mucous and saliva. Getting your medical, personal health and ancestry DNA analyzed usually works like this: You order a kit, which contains a tube that you can spit into or a swab to use on your inner cheek. You send your DNA back to the company, and a few weeks later, the company notifies you that your results are ready. Results are usually available online. Depending on the service you use, you can learn whether you’re a carrier of a certain disease, how to design the most effective your nutritional and fitness regimen and where in the world your ancestors came from. That list of offerings is sure to expand in the near future. The personalized DNA testing space has quickly grown in popularity, with millions of people signing up as it becomes increasingly affordable, explains Vitagene founder and CEO Mehdi Maghsoodnia. “Ten years ago, I did my genetic test for $5,000. Now it’s $99, and it’s even getting cheaper. It will probably hit something like the $50 range in a couple of years,” he said. His company’s website offers the AncestryDNA Test that, for $99, includes “a DNA test kit and a detailed report with ancestry and tailored recommendations for diet, fitness and supplementation.” 23andMe, which came onto the personal genomics scene back in 2006, was the first direct-to-consumer genetic testing kit that promised to inform users about genetic predispositions for more than 90 different traits, from baldness to cancer. In 2013, the company ran afoul of the FDA, which was concerned that “NOT ONLY WERE THE VITAMINS THEY GAVE US A FACTOR OF OUR SUCCESS, BUT ALSO THE WAY THEY PACKAGED THEM MADE IT EASY FOR US TO TAKE THEM UNDER EXTREME CONDITIONS.” — J ASON C ALDWELL, THIRD FR OM LEFT , A N D L A TITUDE 3 5 TEAM
South Bay Accent - Apr/May 2017
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