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In Australia, we’re approaching that time of year when the sun sets earlier, we drag out the cosy blankets, and reach for all manner of comfort foods to warm us on those cold nights!
We’ve just finished another fabulous Easter, filled with friends, families, and perhaps for some, a little too much festivity! For those of us who may have gotten a little too carried away with the chocolatey delights brought by the Easter bunny, now is the perfect time to reassess our health, wellness and fitness goals.

We can blame bad food choices on our lack of willpower, and our aversion to exercise to being time poor, but did you know that our DNA can tell us a lot about how prone we might be to a number of health issues?

As the saying goes ‘Information is power’, and GTL’s NutriFit DNA Health Screening Test can provide you with all the information you need, and help you revaluate your overall health objectives. The test provides you with a tailor-made guide to nutrition and exercise based on your personal genetic makeup, giving you all the tools to start becoming the best version of you ever!

A sample of your saliva is all that is required to get you on the right path, using Next Generation Sequencing Technology (NGS), which provides fast and accurate results. Your results will be available in 4-6 weeks, and will provide you with a personalised analysis of your metabolism thresholds for caffeine, alcohol and lactose, as well as your preferred nutrient requirements.

GTL analyses over 110 genetic variations, and your results will tell you if you are predisposed to some of the more common ailments that we all worry about, including obesity, bone strength, blood sugar issues and cholesterol. You will also benefit from knowing how your body responds to basic nutrients like carbohydrates and the different types of fatty acids.

Scientists have discovered that variations in our genes determine how successfully our bodies metabolise certain compounds. For example, people with a variation of the CYP1A2 gene (which metabolises polyunsaturated fatty acids) metabolise caffeine more slowly than other.
This puts them at an increased risk of heart attack and hypertension if they drink more than a couple of cups of coffee a day. Which isn’t the greatest news if you’re a 6 cup a day coffee drinker, but it’s great to be able to have the tools to do something to turn your health around.

Feeling tired and run down but not sure why? The test also assesses your genetic risk for lacking important vitamins and minerals. From this, you can adjust your diet, using the recommended food products that will meet your unique needs.
Along With your results, you will also receive a guidebook, which clearly explains the background to the science of the NutriFit test, the genes analysed in your test (and what these genes do), a comprehensive nutritional guide to make meal planning a breeze!

GTL provides a safe, simple test with accurate results. We look forward to assisting you on your path to better health, fitness and wellbeing.
By analysing your genes, we can help you fit into yours!

We’ve all heard the saying, “It’s in my genes” before, but have you ever thought about what this really means? Genes carry information that determine what characteristics are inherited from our parents, such as the colour of your hair, how tall you are, and the colour of your eyes.
Genes are the basic units of heredity. They consist of DNA and are part of a larger structure called a chromosome. In each human cell, there are 23 pairs of chromosomes.

Sometimes, for reasons unknown to us, an error occurs at the cell division stage when a child is conceived. If the chromosomes do not split into equal halves, the new cells can have an extra chromosome (47 total) or have a missing chromosome (45 total), resulting in a genetic condition.

Down Syndrome is the most common genetic condition, named after Dr John Langdon Down, the first physician to identify the condition in 1862. It occurs when an extra chromosome 21 is present in the DNA structure, and can occur in people from all races, cultures and social backgrounds.

March 21 marks World Down Syndrome Day, which celebrates and advocates for people with Down Syndrome. It is a day to raise awareness and share stories about what it means to have Down Syndrome, and how people with Down Syndrome play an important part in our lives and communities.

In Australia, there are more than 13,000 people with Down Syndrome.
We are all unique individuals, with differing looks, health needs, and intellectual abilities, the same can be applied to a person with Down Syndrome.
Most young people with Down Syndrome enjoy a typical life, with a range of support needs that can be minimal or more complex, depending on the individual.

Like many other genetic conditions, pre-natal testing can be carried out to check for Down Syndrome. GTL provides clients with a fully Non Invasive Genetic Screening Test, which screens for 18 chromosomal conditions, including Down Syndrome.
A simple blood sample is all that is required, and with a 99.5% detection rate for Down Syndrome, provides more accurate results than traditional screening tests. (Please note that a diagnostic test may still be advised by your medical practitioner)

GTL encourages everyone to attend events for World Down Syndrome Day, like the Community Market, to be held in Brisbane on March 25.
For events in your state, go to Down Syndrome Australia and select your region.

We’ve all heard the saying that somewhere in the world, everyone has a doppelganger, an unrelated person who looks exactly like us. Around 4% of people in the world really do have someone who is their mirror image, a twin! Twins have been a source of fascination throughout history, appearing in mythological folklore, revered as either good or evil, paraded as oddities. Twins have been celebrated in literature, portrayed in film, and in real life, studied endlessly. In Australia, around one birth in every eighty will result in twins!

So what is a twin, how are twins formed genetically, and how can you discover what type of twin you might have?
A twin is essentially two offspring resulting from one pregnancy. Identical (monozygotic) twins develop from one fertilised egg that contains a single set of genetic instructions, and Fraternal (dizygotic) twins develop from two different eggs. Twins can either look very similar, growing up with few people being able to tell them apart, or they can look vastly different, on very rare occasions even having different hair, eye and skin colour!

As a parent of a terrific twinning twosome, there may come a time where you would like to know if your twins are Identical or Fraternal. This could be for medical reasons, or simply to give you peace of mind. GTL’s Twin Zygosity DNA Test has assisted many parents in discovering the unique genetic information specific to their twins. With a 99.9% accuracy rate, the test is affordable, painless, and can be done from the comfort of your own home, while watching the classic Arnold Schwarzenegger Danny DeVito film Twins, of course!

Busy Australian mum Sophia Brown, from Sydney, is the proud parent of two sets of identical twins, Ethan and Harley, and Camilla and Madison. Sophia and her husband Paule always thought that Ethan and Harley were Fraternal twins, as they were in separate sacs when born, and had subtle differences in their appearance, despite being almost identical in meeting their baby milestones. Wanting to know once and for all, Sophia ordered a Twin Zygosity DNA Test from GTL’s ‘twin’ company, Easy DNA. The boys were found to be Identical, with identical DNA, a surprise for Sophia and Paule. Sophia spends what little spare time she has documenting her double trouble twin life on her Twins and a Blog website, as well as showing off her gorgeous, unique family on her Instagram page, twinsandablog. GTL prides itself in providing the Twin Zygosity DNA Test to clients in an easy to perform mouth swab format, which will deliver your twintastic results within 5-7 working days from receipt or your samples.

Amazing Twin Facts.

1. Identical Twins DO NOT have identical finger prints!They start out in the womb with the same fingerprints, but during weeks six through 13 of pregnancy, as the babies start to move, they each touch the amniotic sac, and unique ridges and lines are formed on each twin’s hand that result in different fingerprints.
2. 40% of twins develop their own secret language. It is said that this occurs because twins use each other as models for language development, but often disappears as the twins get older.
3. 4921 sets of twins were born in Australia in 2015, but this is only a moderate number, compared to Benin, in Africa, which has a reported 27.9 twins per 1000 births!
4. The first wife of Feodor Vassilyev (b. 1707–c.1782), a peasant from Shuya, Russia, gave birth to 16 sets of twins.
5. A Gold Coast high school reported having 26 sets of twins in 1992, including 2 sets of teacher twins! Talk about double vision!

Famous people with twins.

• Tennis golden boy Roger Federer (2 sets of twins!)
• Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark (but she’ll always be an Aussie to us!)
• Singer Beyonce
• Actor George Clooney
• Chuck Norris

Leo is my son. He looks like me, the same eyes, the same smile. He even walks like me. Little steps though, because he’s only 3! Anyone who meets us always comments on how similar we are.

It fills me with pride, knowing that I’m raising a little human who is bright, independent, funny, and who shares my DNA.  But there was a brief time, not long ago, where the seeds of doubt were placed in my mind….

“He’s not your son.” “He’s not yours.”

Sometimes when you hear something often enough, despite your sensibilities, you begin to wonder if there’s a chance it could be true.

Things didn’t work out with Leo’s mother and I. It was a volatile relationship, it wasn’t working for either of us, and it wasn’t fair on Leo to see two people unhappy, no matter how many times we tried to make it work for him.

Our parental responsibility arrangements were fair, but Leo’s mother had some bad influences in her life, which I wasn’t happy about. Because of this, I pushed to see my son more, to be the positive light in his life, to try and provide him with the best parenting through our neutral parenting agreement. I wanted to be as good a father as possible. However I had no choice but to enter into legal proceedings after a summons, bringing impositions into my private life, and numerous court hearings.  I did it all for Leo. I felt I needed to be a bigger part of his life.

With the accusations of “He’s not your son” fresh in my mind, I decided to take action in the form of a DNA test, to once and for all give me peace of mind and to legally rule out any possibility of doubt.

I approached GTL, I knew they were a world class company who provided NATA accredited paternity testing. From the minute I requested a paternity test, they were professional, easy to deal with and discrete. Their results arrived in time to support my court case, and revealed that Leo was 99% biologically my son, a perfect result that I always knew in my heart was true.

A review of the family law system in Australia was announced in 2017 by former Attorney General George Brandis. This will be the first review since the Family Court commenced in 1976, and will address the continued issues faced by families, including ‘the paramount importance of protecting the needs of the children of separating families.’ I can only hope that this review will be the starting point to help people in similar situations as myself, have a less emotionally and financially harrowing experience regarding the care arrangements for their children after a separation. The Australian censes reveals of over 900,000 single parent families that were counted in 2016  over 80% of single parents were female. REF: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/2071.0main+features22016 

Earlier this year, I married my beautiful wife whom which I now run a business together with, who is a wonderful step-mother to Leo. She has seen the heartbreak I’ve endured over Leo’s care, and shared with me the great results I received from GTL’s paternity test. As majority we care for our wonderful little guy with full time parental responsibility, he is truly the most important thing in our lives, and now I can continue to be the best father I can be; all with the proven confidence that he is, and always will be, my son.

Aussies love to win! We pride ourselves in our sporting achievements, be it our team making the finals for the 6^th year in a row, or telling stories of our own sporting glory days.

Unfortunately, Australia is also close to leading the field in something that we should definitely not be proud of, bowel cancer. We have one of the highest rates in the world, with one in thirteen Aussies receiving a diagnosis each year. Over half of those diagnosed are males.

December is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, a great time to think about our ‘gut health’, and to start watching out for any changes in your bowel habits. Any changes that persist for more than two weeks should necessitate a visit to your GP.

In Australia, around 25% of people diagnosed with bowel cancer have a family history of the disease, so knowing your medical predisposition is a great tool to start with.

GTL’s Personal Genome Analysis will reveal your susceptibility to several common diseases and how to reduce your risk of developing them as well as your response to a number of commonly prescribed medications. You can also learn about some genetically determined physical characteristics and talents, such as lactose and caffeine metabolism and pain sensitivity. The Personal Genome Analysis assesses over 130 genetic variations in more than 110 different genes.

Having as much knowledge about your health future is an important start to living and maintaining a long and healthy life. GTL has a wide range of genetic tests that can assist you in making proactive lifestyle, health and diet decisions based on the results that you receive.

As well as providing world class genetic testing for bowel cancer, GTL is also a proud supporter of Decembeard, Bowel Cancer Australia’s fundraising event that runs for the month of, you guessed it, December!
Drop your razor, throw out the shaving cream and grow a beard to raise much needed funds for bowel cancer research. The ladies aren’t left out, and can don a fake beard, or host a beard-themed event to help raise much needed funds for research. You can sign up, donate, or sponsor a hairy-faced friend right now!

You can be a gold medal contender in your own life, with the help of GTL’s Personal Genome Analysis. Easy, quick, professional, scientific results to help you maintain and manage your health.

The team at Genetic Technologies Limited are happy to announce regular blogging!

– Interesting Articles & Facts.

– DNA – How can we help?