Genetic iceberg linked to weight, food, behavior, personality, physical performance and core biology

Although your entire genome needs to be tested when it becomes affordable, there are still some types of gene testing that can help you manage your lifestyle, diet, risks, and atittiudes toward your health. If you learn who you really are, can you control what you want to be? Can you test less than your entire genome and still tailor your foods and medicine to your own individual genetic signature and expression?

That's what the genetic iceberg is all about. And for entrepreneurs, there are thriving businesses focused on testing genes and applying them to help people be more in control of managing lifestyles, diets, risks, and attitudes.

Scientists at Alpha-Genics are continuing to bring more of that genetic iceberg above the water line. And more is to come. Listen to some of the company's new and archived webcast radio shows. Hear the archived shows anytime on the Good Genes site. Listen to the new weekly radio show each Monday at 7:30 P.M. (Eastern Standard Time). It's at blogtalkradio(sm). Also see this article at my daily nutrition/health column on Examiner.com, at: http://bit.ly/iiLxq.

Archived Episodes: 6/22/2009 4:30 PM - Knowing your DNA potentials will make your life better, 6/29/2009 4:30 PM, 7/6/2009, 4:30 PM. If you miss the live broadcasts, you can listen to the archived shows.

Looking at genes has begun and proceeds into the future. As Richard FeynmanRichard Feynman, Nobel Laureate often is quoted, "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." To bring you up to date, briefly, Fredric D. Abramson, Ph.D., S.M. President & CEO of Alpha-Genics reported to me today that, "We’ve introduced MyGene DaVinci, a DNA profile that looks at 100 interesting genes that research shows contribute to things like behavior, personality, weight, physical performance and other aspects of core biology."

"It is our step to help bring greater insight to people about their core biology, which can translate into smarter life decisions. Everyone knows that what you are today is a combination of who you are biologically and what you do. If you know more about who you are, you can make better decisions about what you do today."

Two special applications have emerged that Dr. Abramson shares. One example, " is to use our DNA profiling with young, single moms. This group typically is very low income, poorly educated, and has virtually no self esteem. For whatever reason, pregnancy is a valued status."

"We believe that showing them their DNA gives them something that is innately theirs, something that nobody can deny or take away. And that with focused follow-on coaching (which is part of our business model), these girls can begin to build self esteem, gain some confidence, and begin to think of life choices in a positive way, which can translate into a desire for more education, skill development, and better parenting."

Abramson explains the second application of DNA profiling with families that have adopted children. "A similar group with powerful needs, are families with adopted children. I’ve been learning recently about the very high stress levels in these families and lots of dysfunctional behavior."

Alpha-Genics has some specific papers on this topic, and Dr. Abramson is working to bring this into practical program actions. Good coaching includes topics such as nutrition. For example, many of these girls do have severe weight problems. So coaching about their self image, improved nutrition, and genes can make a difference in building self esteem in at least one dimension. There's a link between high stress levels in families and choices of food.

"I believe that the MyGene DaVinci profile, on both the parents and children, can open a new type of dialogue and understanding. Families can begin to identify areas that they share genetically, as well as those where there are differences. With this knowledge can come greater understanding and even empathy, which I believe will translate into greater harmony and peace in these families."

According to the Good Genes site on blogtalkradio, a radio episode "Knowing your DNA Potentials Will Make Your Life Better." emphasizes that, "Learning about your DNA blueprint for normal, non-disease factors can empower you to have greater control and fulfillment in your life."

For thousands of years, we have struggled to make sense of who and what we are, knowing that our parents gave us their gifts. But not being able to delve inside our molecular biology to truly identify what those were has been one of the single largest barriers to true self awareness. This is no longer the case.

"Genetic technology can now, finally, let us peel away that last barrier. Finally, we can learn how who we really are plays a role in shaping what we are. This show discusses how you can use information about your normal, good genes to you’re your life better and happier, immediately. We discuss how proven scientific research shows the many ways that our DNA impacts our behavior, personality, weight, athletics, sex and other life areas."

Would you like to find out what your DNA blueprint looks like as the foundation of your life? According to the radio blog broadcast, "Married couples can have better relationships by understanding how DNA might contribute to certain tendencies." Also people interested in weight loss can "gain a better focus instead of having to guess what diets might or might work."

Genomics, including nutrigenomics are areas of learning about yourself that's very valuable to parents. Do you want to learn where your child’s life potential is strong and where it might take more work and time to become good? Do you want to know whether your child has sports/athletic abilities?

Or abilities in other areas? What other potentials you or your child might have that actually shows up genetically? Can you predict potential from genes? Find out also how much environment and lifestyle plays a part and how much genes reveal what types of potential.

How does who you really are play a role in shaping what you are? Do you need your entire genome tested? What can specific genes actually show? The radio episodes discuss how you can use information about your normal, good genes to improve your life. The goal is that knowledge is supposed to make your life better and happier, immediately.

The radio shows discuss how proven scientific research shows the many ways that your DNA impacts your behavior, personality, weight, athletics, sex ,and other life areas. Find out what your genes impact and what's not affected by your DNA. What exactly can testing tell you about yourself? And what needs to be tested to tell you any specifics? If hundreds of genes control one specific area of your life or body, what does testing show you? To learn more, check out the site for Alpha-Genics and the Good Genes radio broadcast site.

Dr. Abramson's article, "Positive Genetic Profiling To Break the Young Single Mother’s Poverty-Pregnancy-Powerlessness Cycle," emphasizes that the company's plan, "Opportunity," is to "use DNA profiling of normal, good genes (no disease genes) to help young single mothers learn skills to cope with the new motherhood. There’s a great deal of social dynamics operating here, and these girls often have a bleak future."

Abramson reports that, " We want to help change that. Our plan is to test both the mother and child for 100 normal, non-disease genetic markers that relate to 50 different lifestyle traits, and then give the mother professional follow-on coaching on how to use this information to make smarter life decisions."

Alpha-Genics preliminary discussions indicate the following, that, "churches will support this effort by “sponsoring” tests and providing financial support as part of their community efforts, and counseling professionals will donate pro-bono or reduced-fee time to coach the girls on how this genetic information translates into smarter parenting, job and educational decisions. In addition, we believe government support for this program is appropriate because it is a totally new approach to dealing with the consequences of unwed motherhood."

According to Dr. Abramson,'s article, Positive Genetic Profiling To Break the Young Single Mother’s Poverty-Pregnancy-Powerlessness Cycle, Alpha-Genics notes the problem is, "The number of pregnancies to unwed mothers and teens remains a huge social burden. For too many of these single mothers, the challenges of successfully raising a child are substantially compromised by the fact that these girls/women are too often without sufficient education or lack skills to obtain all but the most menial jobs. Furthermore, one of the major forces contributing to the fact they became pregnant in the first place is that they come from negative environments which, among other things, translate into very low self esteem."

New Tools Mean a Fresh Approach

This combination of poverty, inadequate education/skills and low self esteem traps these girls/women in a vicious cycle which they are unlikely to break, notes Dr. Abramson. "So they work in marginal, menial jobs that re-enforce that low esteem. They find themselves in problematic relationships with men who are indifferent to preventing pregnancy or being an appropriate father figure. They drift into a form of governmental dependency through welfare and other comparable programs. And they seldom acquire even minimal resources to provide a strong, positive environment for their children. Which then perpetuates the cycle."

New tools mean a fresh approach: According to Alpha-Genics, "Astonishing advances in genetic science and biotechnology now permit scientists throughout the world to identify and study how our genes impact and define our normal, everyday life. The scientists conduct these studies of normal function in order to then better understand the mechanisms of disease. Their goal, of course, is to find new treatments, diagnostic tools and preventive approaches."

The collateral benefit of this research is the opportunity to let people learn about, understand, and work with their natural genetic potentials as their genes relate to their normal lives. Dr. Abramson explains, "Genes impact how we behave, our personality, and our ability to lose or gain weight. Genes are involved in our body structure, which includes athletics and other physical attributes. Our brains don’t all work the same way because our genes influence our neurologic wiring and chemistry, which includes our hormones. Quite simply, our genes are powerful determinants of who and what we are."

At the same time, scientists have shown that our genes do not work in a vacuum, and that our environment also plays a powerful role. Dr. Abramson reports, "Whether it is how we are raised, the amount of exercise we do, the air we breath, the water we drink, or what we eat everyday, environment works with and on our genetic blueprint. In other words, both nature and nurture shape us."

Imagine the positive impact on a young woman to be given insight into how her DNA blueprint contributes to her life. According to Dr. Abramson, "Armed with this knowledge, she could identify those parts of her life and environment which she can control and then take positive actions to translate this knowledge into better life outcomes." These outcomes could include acquiring job skills, more education, healthier parenting and steps to avoid future pregnancies.

One major value of this DNA information is that it can deliver a new attitude and sense of self worth to these girls, many of whom have a terribly low sense of self esteem. According to Dr. Abramson,'s article, Positive Genetic Profiling To Break the Young Single Mother’s Poverty-Pregnancy-Powerlessness Cycle, "We expect this DNA information to greatly improve their self esteem because this is “her” DNA, which is part of her uncontestable identity. Nobody can take it away from her."

When combined with positive counseling support, we expect these girls to develop a new sense of self and worth. We then expect this to translate into these girls and their children becoming productive contributors to society.

Genes Are More Than Disease - Positive Genetic Information Can Change Lives

According to Dr. Abramson,'s article, Positive Genetic Profiling To Break the Young Single Mother’s Poverty-Pregnancy-Powerlessness Cycle, "AlphaGenics was founded to help people obtain and use genetic information in positive ways that can improve their lives. Our focus is on how genes relate to normal, everyday life. We help people translate the science into practical decisions that each person can use to meet their own unique need. While we can’t change our genes, we can change our environment and can make smarter choices to make our lives better."

Scientists know that our DNA impacts normal functions like behavior, creativity, emotions, personality, sex, weight control, physical performance and other everyday activities. According to Dr. Abramson,'s article, Positive Genetic Profiling To Break the Young Single Mother’s Poverty-Pregnancy-Powerlessness Cycle, Abramson notes says, "Imagine the personal power from learning how our good DNA shapes our everyday life. Imagine the increased life potential when we can highlight our strengths and balance your weaknesses."

Trying to make sense of who and what we are has been an eternal struggle. Abramson says, "Everyone knew that our parents gave us their genetic gifts, but we’ve never been able to delve inside our molecular biology to truly identify what those gifts were. Our inability to truly know our DNA blueprint has been a major barrier to true self awareness. Until now."

New genetic technology lets us peel away that last barrier. Now we can learn who we really are at our DNA level, and how our DNA plays a role in shaping what we are today, and what we can become tomorrow.

"MyGene DaVinci™ is the first product that exclusively identifies how our good DNA helps shape our life potential and normal, everyday activities," says Dr. Abramson. "AlphaGenics selected over 100 of the more interesting and valuable normal, good genes. With our follow-on personalized coaching, each person can evaluate the information and use it to make their lives better and happier -- immediately. Instead of identifying genes related to diseases, AlphaGenics builds on the scientific research that shows how our DNA impacts our behavior, personality, weight, athletics, sex and other valuable life areas. By targeting the DNA blueprint for normal, good genes, we provide a foundation for greater control and fulfillment in our lives."

Some of the gene traits that are being tested at Alpha-Genics

Agreeableness
Altruism and social orientation
Amorous/Love
Caffeine metabolism
Cognitive Function
Dance creativity
Delayed sleep
Evening person
Earwax Type
Learning from Mistakes
Friendship and political ideology
Higher BMI
Impulsive behavior
Intelligence Knee Strength
Memory
Morning person
Muscle strength
Obesity
Partisanship voting
Physical Performance/Endurance
Resiliency to stress
Sexual behavior
Sugar intake
Voting and Religious attendance
Weight control
Worry

If you're interested in receiving more information on Alpha-Genics, view the company's site, or write to the firm at the following address:

Alpha-Genics
21155 Woodfield Road
Gaithersburg, MD 20882

Listen to the radio program, Good Genes - Power for Personal Decisions at Blog Talk Radio: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/

Also view my two videos on Google on interpreting DNA tests for genealogy-related research at: http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=how+to+interpret+dna%2C+anne+hart&hl=en&emb=0&aq=f#.

See the 56 minute, 17 second video that I narrated as speaker: Intepreting_DNA-Driven_Genealogy_Reports.wmv. Also see my Google audio slide show which is done in Microsoft synthetic computer voice/audio, How to Launch a Genealogy TV Business Online .

Or see my audio/slide show video, How to Write Salable Life Experience or Current Issues Material for the Inspirational, Motivational Markets. The whole idea is sharing what you've learned. How do you arrive at your choices? Is it genetic or cultural? The goal is to do the best you can with what you have. That's why knowing your genetic iceberg might help you manage your food, weight, behavior, personality, and physical performance, say some researchers looking at core biology.

For more info: browse my DNA-driven genealogy-oriented books, How to Interpret Family History & Ancestry DNA Test Results for Beginners (2004), or Predictive Medicine for Rookies (2005). See my books, How to Safely Tailor Your Foods, Medicines, & Cosmetics to Your Genes (2003) or How to Open DNA-driven Genealogy Reporting & Interpreting Businesses. (2007). Browse my book: How Nutrigenomics Fights Childhood Type 2 Diabetes & Weight Issues (2009) or Check out my free audio lecture on Internet Archive, How nutrigenomics fights childhood type 2 diabetes. Photo Credits: Alpha-Genics.