DNA diagnostics is a technologically complex procedure, since we are talking about the study of microscopic structures. This is reading information from a double-stranded DNA strand, i.e. decoding information encoded in DNA, which consists of genes located in chromosomes, as well as searching and detecting broken, “defective” areas in the human genetic code.
What problem does it solve?
DNA diagnostics is ideal for detecting hidden, asymptomatic and chronically occurring infections.
with the help of DNA analysis, you can learn about diseases that have not yet manifested themselves in any way, but under certain circumstances can seriously shake the patient’s health.
thanks to DNA analysis, future parents can assess the probability of having a child with a hereditary pathology, and if the disease has already been detected in the baby, from the first months of his life to develop an optimal treatment plan that will avoid complications.
a variety of particles can be used as material for analysis: buccal epithelium (smear from the inner surface of the cheek), saliva, blood, nails, hair follicles, semen, earwax, nasal discharge, fetal material (after abortion or miscarriage) and so on.
It is important that the biomaterial enters the laboratory in sufficient quantity, therefore, in order to obtain reliable results, it is advisable to take blood from a vein in a medical institution for DNA analysis.
In what cases is it used?
If you want to preserve your health and longevity, prevent the disease and take therapeutic measures if the risk of its development is high.
With the help of DNA analysis, it is determined:
hereditary predisposition to specific pathologies that have already occurred in the family (for example, cancer or mental illness);
the general “genetic history” of a person who wants to know for sure what diseases he may have in the future;
the reason for the unclear symptoms is the inability to diagnose in another way (especially important for children with rare genetic pathology);
individual intolerance to certain medications;
degree of genetic kinship with prospective family members;
the likelihood of complications during pregnancy;
propensity to alcoholism or drug addiction (based on the identification of genes responsible for the synthesis of enzymes capable of splitting alcohol and other compounds);
risks in the presence of serious physical exertion (important for professional athletes);
possible causes of infertility, etc.;
to determine the effectiveness of treatment of the disease.
There are two methods of DNA diagnostics:
polymerase chain reaction, or PCR (suitable for the study of almost any material);
ligase chain reaction, or PCR.
PCR, as the most common method, allows to identify single cells of pathogens of many infectious diseases, because PCR technology is based on a multiple increase in the number of copies of the specific DNA sequences tested.
Advantages:
genetic research is the most powerful tool that allows you to prevent the disease;
difficult–to-detect infections, resistant microorganisms, atypical forms of bacteria – all this can be diagnosed only with the help of the DNA method;
the duration of the analysis is on average 3-4 weeks;
DNA analysis has a very high discriminative ability, which makes it possible to uniquely identify any person;
The DNA profile of a person is constant and does not change during life. This allows you to compare samples obtained at different periods of a person’s life and get an unambiguous result;
DNA profiles obtained from different types of tissues of the same person will be the same. This makes it possible to use material of various origins (for example, exhumation material of the deceased and blood of a living person) to identify and establish the origin of children;
DNA is very stable, which makes it possible to obtain genetic information from old biological samples and samples from burials;
DNA is passed from parent to child, which allows DNA analysis to be used to establish kinship relationships between people within the same family and between people from different families. DNA analysis also suggests to what extent there may be two or more persons who have no known relationship;
Genetic information can be obtained from samples with extremely low DNA content, as well as from samples where DNA has partially degraded.