Scripps Genomics Health Initiative

The specific aims for this project are to enroll up to 10,000 subjects who will have their genomes surveyed using the Navigenics™ Health Compass technology. The Navigenics Health Compass helps you understand what your genetic variants have to say about the future of your health, and gives you action steps to take control of your health today. In addition, the investigators will assess how the Navigenics Health Compass, results affect lifestyle decisions. The phenotyping information that can be analyzed with the resulting Navigenics genotype information will assist in identifying genetic variations associated with other traits and diseases.

The uses of molecular markers such as cholesterol and glucose levels to assess disease risk are well established in clinical medicine today. Although these tools are useful in screening for subclinical disease, their predictive value is limited. Until recently, these molecular markers were the best risk assessment and screening tools in existence. Since the completion of the Human Genome Project, the era of personalized medicine, which exploits knowledge of the genes an individual carries that may predispose him/her to disease, has come to the forefront of research.

The Navigenics Health Compass technology assesses risk for about over 20 common diseases and provides subjects with more accurate assessments of their individual predictive risk for developing these conditions than traditional biomarkers such as cholesterol and glucose levels. This may positively influence changes in lifestyle, as well as decisions to seek further medical evaluation associated with preventive strategies.