Veritas Genetics provides whole genome sequencing to help you plan for a healthy family, manage your disease risks, and help you live a healthier, longer life. Here’s our Veritas Genetics review.
What is Veritas Genetics?
Veritas Genetics is a genetic testing company that promises to sequence your entire genome, giving you actionable insights into your personal health – and the health of your family.
Like other genetic testing companies, Veritas Genetics promises to help you test your sequence once and get useful insights for life.
Veritas Genetics puts a big emphasis on “whole genome sequencing”. Why is that so important? Whole genome sequencing involves 6 billion DNA letters (A, T, C, Gs).
Many other genetic testing companies only offer genotyping (1 million DNA letters) or exome sequencing (50 million DNA letters), good for 0.02% of the genome and 1.5% of the genome, respectively.
With Veritas Genetics’ whole genomic sequencing, you can access more data than ever before.
The Veritas Genetics test is priced at around $1000. Veritas Genetics is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company began offering its whole genome testing service in March 2016.
Why Do You Need Genetic Testing?
Veritas Genetics claims that their genetic testing can give you enormous insight into your personal health and your family’s genetic health.
You can sequence your genome once and then enjoy powerful insights for the rest of your life.
As an example, Veritas Genetics claims that 25% of a genetic susceptible to dangers of dietary iron excess.
This predisposes them to a significantly higher risk of serious diseases including Alzheimer’s.
A decade ago, the Human Genome Project spent $1 billion identifying the whole human genome. Today, that test is available to you for $1,000.
How Does the Veritas Genetics Whole Genome Test Work?
Veritas Genetics takes a sample, analyzes it, and then gives you back a report based on what they learned. Their report will say things like:
“A variant [H63D c.187C>G] was detected in your HFE gene”
Obviously, unless you’re a genetic scientist, that information is virtually useless. That’s why the Veritas Genetics report follows up with another section called “What Does This Mean?”, where they say the following:
“Variants in HFE are associated with a condition called hereditary hemochromatosis. You carry one “nonworking” gene, which means that your body might not regulate intake of the iron in your food appropriately.
If so, you might need to assess your consumption of iron-rich foods and adjust your diet.”
One of the cool things about the Veritas Genetics report is that you can separate information into different sections based on your physiological system.
For example, there’s an “Athleticism” section that helps you determine whether you were “born to run like an Olympic champion” by looking at characteristics like your height, skeletal structure, and muscle fiber types.
Other sections include a genetic breakdown of your blood sugar, cardiovascular capacity, hormones, immune system, longevity, metabolism, nutritional and diet, and behavior and cognition.
Another key benefit of the Veritas Genetics report is learning which genetic diseases you could transmit to your children. You can learn if you are a carrier of a genetic condition.
Or, you can discover how your body might react to different pharmaceuticals. Veritas Genetics runs your genetic information through a test to see how you would respond to 150 drugs.
You’ll get information like “A dosage change may be required for Simvastatin…based on your CC genotype for the CLB01B1 gene”.
To help you understand all of this information, Veritas Genetics has a team of “Genetic Counselors” who will provide greater insight into your result.
Veritas Genetics Products
Veritas Genetics offers two types of products: it offers whole genome testing (called “myGenome”) which covers the information we mentioned above, and it also offers targeted genetic testing to screen your risk of hereditary diseases, prenatal conditions, and more. Here are all of the tests currently available:
myGenome ($999 USD): Provides whole genome sequencing to help improve your health and longevity.
myBRCA: A targeted genetic test to help you understand your risk of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.
myBRCA hiRisk: A targeted screening test of 26 specific genes, including BRCA 1 and BRCA 2, that tests for an increased risk of developing breast, ovarian, and other inherited cancers.
myPrenatal: Maternal-blood-based target genetic testing that uses non-invasive methods to predict the presence of Down Syndrome (T21), Edward Syndrome (T18), and Patau Syndrome (T13).
myCarrier: Saliva-based screening of prospective or currently pregnant parents to see if they carry inherited and rare conditions like cystic fibrosis.
myNewborn: Comprehensive genetic screening of newborns for early childhood diseases.
Veritas Genetics App
One of the convenient things about Veritas Genetics is that all test results are delivered to you through the company’s app or your computer.
You get a list of conditions and traits based on your genetic testing. You can access this information on any internet-connected device.
You can also schedule a follow-up with Veritas Genetics’ genetic counselors for clinically relevant findings.
What to Expect with Veritas Genetics
Veritas Genetics makes genetic testing relatively straightforward. Here’s how it works:
Step 1) You order your myGenome test online
Step 2) Veritas Genetics receives your doctor’s order form
Step 3) Veritas Genetics sends you a saliva collection kit to collect your DNA sample
Step 4) Veritas Genetics will process your sample in its CLIA-certified lab and generate a report, available on your smartphone
Step 5) You review your test results with your physician or with one of the Veritas Genetics genetic counselors
The Veritas Genetics Labs
The Veritas Genetics lab provides whole genome sequencing on its Illumina X10 system. That system averages 30X coverage, which is the industry standard depth.
The coverage includes over 40,000 genes and important regulatory regions. All tests are performed in a CLIA laboratory.
After your lab results are processed, the analysis and reporting is overviewed by the company’s expert medical staff.
About Veritas Genetics
Veritas Genetics is a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based team of scientists, engineers, genetic counselors, businesspeople, and designers.
The company’s goal, according to their About page, is to “empower people to live healthier, longer”.
The company claims its story began in the 1970s with a young student who was passionate about the emerging world of DNA testing.
That student, George Church, set in motion things like the Human Genome Project, which was the first initiative to map all genes in the human genome.
George, including a group of other scientists and visionaries (many of whom came from Harvard Medical School’s Personal Genome Project) co-founded Veritas Genetics.
In addition to their Danvers, MA address, the company maintains offices in Shanghai and Hangzhou, China as well as an office in Luxembourg.
Veritas Genetics began offering its whole genome testing service in March 2016. Veritas means “Truth” in Latin.
What Do Customers Have to Say About Veritas Genetics?
Good independent genetic test reviews can be tough to find online. Veritas Genetics is a relatively new company, having just launched in early 2016.
We’ll update this post with more reviews as they continue to appear online. So far, the only customer review we could find online was a 4 star rating at DNATestingChoice.com, with little information attached to that review.
Veritas Genetics Whole Genome Sequencing Summary
A decade ago, the Human Genome Project cost over $1 billion to complete. That project sequenced the entire human genome.
Today, that test is available to you from Veritas Genetics for $1000. Veritas Genetics isn’t the only company offering whole genome sequencing, and other companies will likely appear over the coming months (Gene by Gene has previously offered whole exome sequencing, for example, for $1095 USD).
However, Veritas Genetics is the current leading provider of whole genome sequencing on the market.
One of the best parts about Veritas Genetics is that all information is delivered to you online or over the smartphone app.
You can view complete information about your genetic sequencing from the convenience of your mobile device or tablet.
Learn more about Veritas Genetics today by visiting the company online at VeritasGenetics.com.
If you don’t want to pay $1000 for whole genome sequencing, you can pay as little as $200 for targeted genetic testing. In any case, all you need to get started is a saliva sample.
