Dante Labs has developed the first DNA tests available in Europe, which will allow the public to test their health and wellbeing from the comfort of their own homes.
Dante Labs hopes to transform genetics. The biotech wants to develop accessible genomic testing, giving people the knowledge and information they need to live long, healthy lives. Yesterday, the biotech started selling its DNA test kit for a special Cyber Monday price of €149 – down from €199. Data interpretation, a personal genetics service and more than 80 online health and wellness reports are all included in the price.
The test is non-invasive, requiring a saliva sample, which can be collected using the kit at home and shipped back to Dante Labs for free. Customers can expect their test results within 3 weeks and can make sense of them using personalized online reports, which provide more information about topics including the risk of heart attacks, muscle fatigue, digestion, blood and the side effects of different drugs.
The kit tests more than 650,000 SNPs, which comprehensively tests the genome for mutations that could put an individual at risk of a particular disease. The company uses microarray technology, which allows the expression of a number of genes to be measured at the same time. An individual’s genome can be quickly and cheaply interpreted, enabling personalized medicine.
This sort of technology is already available in the US but can be very expensive – particularly due to high shipping costs. Dante Labs look to overcome this by bringing high-quality technology to the European market, without the frightening costs. Dante Labs CEO and Co-founder, Andrea Riposati, explained: “We wanted to develop a new high quality, affordable test… to make advanced genomics accessible to everyone.”
Despite spending on DNA tests set to reach $25B (€21B) a year by 2021, fears over the privacy and safety of data still linger. Dante Labs is committed to its customers though, going above and beyond data protection laws in the US and EU. The potential impact that early diagnosis of diseases could have on healthcare is clear, and this has led to the development of a number of biotechs in this area, including DNAlytics’ test for arthritic diseases and Ampligen’s HPV test for uterine cancer.
DNA testing technology is now becoming more and more accessible for consumers around the world, meaning they now have the option to take a test, whether it provides peace of mind or the information they need prevent future health issues. Providing an individual with this information can give them the motivation to make changes to their lifestyle, which can be hugely beneficial for themselves and reduce the burden on healthcare systems later on.
Images – Henrik Dolle / shutterstock.com; Dante Labs