Genetic Approach to Lifestyle Diseases

Living in an era of genetic mutation and molecular designing, it has become easier to analyse the genes and modulate lifestyle diseases. Researchers are decoding the genetic makeup of humans to determine certain health conditions like diabetes and obesity. 

With the help of genotyping The Gene Box, a predictive health-tech company is allowing people to understand their genetic predispositions that can provide a balanced plan for a healthy living.

Conversing about the genetic solutions, industry and more, Pranav Anam, founder of The Gene Box got into a conversation with BW Businessworld. 

Here are the excerpts. 

Genetic solutions by The Gene Box 

TGB is a health-tech company with a forte in genetic data analysis and making it actionable. We provide genomic insights to assess the genetic strengths and weaknesses of an individual, not limited to health genomics and further includes Lifestyle diseases such as cardiovascular, diabetic complications, hormonal disorders.), fitness genomics (endurance related, power-related, flexibility, injury risk, muscle damage and recovery, muscle building, fat loss response to exercise, etc.), nutrigenomics (regulation of eating, taste perception, macronutrient response, micronutrient requirements, weight management and maintenance, food intolerance and sensitivities, etc.) and pharmacogenomics (cardiovascular drugs, psychiatric medications, antidiabetic medications, pain medicines, gastrointestinal drugs, oncological drugs, immunosuppressant, etc.). These insights are indicative and need the guidance of an expert to act upon. 

Upcoming research 

The Gene Box’s research team is currently working on a few projects on lifestyle disorders and endogamous population study which will help understand genetic variations in Indian population in a better way.   

Industry scenario and market size 

Genetic analytics is a fast-paced industry in India and about a dozen companies are already offering one or the other end-product, especially clinical genetics. Globally, the genomics market was valued at USD 17.67 Billion in 2018 and is expected to grow to USD 48.11 Billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 13.34 per cent.  The global market for nutrigenomics was valued at USD 287 million in 2018. It is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 16.6 per cent between 2019 and 2025 and reach nearly USD 845 Million by 2025.   

Genotyping and Gene Testing in India 

There are varied applications of genotyping and genetic tests that have been used for diagnostic purposes. However, preventive/prognostic tests are slowly gaining mileage with an incline towards precision healthcare. We hope that the insights created by TGB’s platform will drive the healthcare industry into precision medicine and care in multiple domains – applications of genomics data are varied and can span from personalized nutrition and fitness plans to medicine, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, FMCG products, improved interventions for better management of lifestyle.  

Future of The Gene Box 

The Gene Box, in the next 5 years, is planning to be one-of-its-kind data-to-reports company with well-established research and analytics team churning out Indian genetic data and information that can be applied to various sectors, leveraging the wide spectrum of genomic applications that we cater to. India’s diversity is an asset and in the next 24 to 36 months, we aim to serve as much as 100,000 Indians with the benefits of their genetic information. We intend to improve the artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) interventions in this sub-field of genetics for better healthcare products.