The home DNA testing industry is one that has boomed in recent years. First, it started with the creation of DNA testing kits that could be used to track your family history.
It has since expanded, and DNA kits to test your health and wellbeing have become incredibly popular.
In many cases, our bodies are a mystery to us as human beings, and it is fascinating that a simple swab of the inside of your cheek can tell a wealth of knowledge about both your past and future.
One leading company that produces health and wellbeing DNA kits is Orig3n, so today we’ll be looking at whether or not the DNA kits produced by this company are value for money.
What is Orig3n?
Before we take a look at the different products that Orig3n offer, let’s take a look at the company’s history.
Compared to a lot of companies that produce DNA tests, Orig3n is fairly new to the game, as their company was first founded in 2014. They are a Boston based company that prides themselves on balancing between biological science, and emerging technology.
They are also a relatively small company, with no more than 50 employees that work to analyze and provide results based on your DNA samples. As we’ve already mentioned, the majority of DNA testing companies have evolved from testing to look at history, to testing to look to the future.
This is where Orig3n differs as they were founded with the mission to create a healthier future for human beings. The company uses its balanced position between science and new technologies to turn new discoveries into potential solutions that can be used to better our health.
While DNA is something that a lot of people have a very limited knowledge of, it can be used to tell us so much about our health and the impact this will have on our lives.
Understanding our DNA is a sure-fire way to improve our health, but as only scientists can analyze our DNA, it is the responsibility of these DNA tests to help us create a better future. This principle is the basis of Orig3n’s company philosophy, as they work through 3 main company missions, they are:
- Empowering people to understand more about our bodies as well as our minds.
- Building an educated, and passionate, global community with DNA and health at the forefront.
- Using increased knowledge to advance technology and create a revolution in regenerative medicine.
So let’s take a deeper look at these 3 company principles. The first being empowerment. Access to our own genetics is something that most people do not have, and Orig3n wants to work to change that.
They aim to give all people direct and affordable access to information about their genetics and how this impacts their health and lifestyle. Orig3n aims to allow people to use this information to make proactive changes, including diet and exercise, to improve their lives for the better. This is why Orig3n offers a variety of different products at different costs to allow everybody access to their products.
Their next principle is to build an educated global community, and Orig3n aims to reach this by reaching out to people. The research that the company completes into regenerative medicine requires a lot of human samples, so they organize a lot of events throughout the year to encourage people to donate a sample and help out.
For those donating, it is just a small drop of blood, but for the company, this can provide them a wealth of insight and information that could change medicine for the future. It seems that Orig3n’s efforts are working as they currently have the world’s largest cell bank for regenerative medicine which is an excellent foundation for the incredible research that they are completing.
Finally, the company aims to use their knowledge to create a revolution in regenerative medicine. They already have an excellent foundation for this through the human sample donations that a lot of people have completed, but they want to take this even further.
These blood samples are the foundation, and Orig3n’s highly experienced scientists can use this to generate regenerative medicine and make this available as a treatment option in a much faster timeline. So now that we’ve established the company history, let’s take a look at how their tests work.
How does it work?
We know that Orig3n is a fairly new company in terms of the DNA testing industry, so does their testing process differ from other companies? The answer is no.
Orig3n actually follows the standard home DNA testing process that a lot of companies have chosen to follow. The company offers a few different tests, which we will take a look at later on, so the first thing you need to do is purchase your chosen kit online at Orig3n.
When your testing kit arrives in the post, it will come with an instruction kit to ensure that you know exactly what you are doing. Inside the kit, you will find a swab that can be used to gather your DNA sample.
The test requires you to swab the inside of your cheek for 30 seconds which can then be bagged up and sent back to the laboratory in the prepaid envelope included in the kit.
You will then need to register an account with Orig3n so that you can access your results when they are ready. Setting up an account takes only a few minutes, and the company also offers a mobile app that you can download onto your phone which will provide you with a notification when your test results are ready.
It usually takes between 6-8 weeks for your test results to be ready, however, this can take less or more time depending on how busy the company is.
Remember that Orig3n is still a fairly small company so they might not have the capacity to turn results out as quickly as some of their larger competitors. So now that we have an understanding of how the testing process works, let’s take a look at the different testing options that Orig3n offers.
Why choose Orig3n?
As we have already established, Orig3n’s main focus is on health and wellbeing and using your test results to improve your lifestyle. Based on its company philosophy, Orig3n offers a variety of different products designed to give insight into these aspects of your life.
Orig3n offers a lot of different tests and has one of the largest product varieties of all the different companies that produce DNA tests. For the basis of this review, we’ll take a look at their 3 most popular tests: the fitness, nutrition, and the superhero test.
First, let’s take a look at their fitness test works. This is a test specifically designed for those who have a huge interest in fitness or sport as it compares your metabolism and genetics to see if you will be able to reach your fitness goals.
It also looks at whether your genetic build will impact your ability to reach these fitness goals. This test looks at a variety of different aspects of your genetics to analyze your fitness ability.
This includes an exercise recovery test, where your genetics are analyzed to see how quickly your body will be able to bounce back after exercising. It also does a test that looks into your metabolism, and its ability to process fat, as well as your sensitivity to sugar, and how full eating a meal makes you feel.
The test will also look into your genetics to identify your muscle strength, and if you have any genetic variations that could cause your ligaments, cartilage, and tendons to grow achy quicker.
Another part of the test will look at the different genes that have been connected to endurance to identify how successfully you can process oxygen. Finally, the fitness test will identify whether your genetic build is better suited to speed or distance-sports to help you pick activities that could be more beneficial for your health.
Another popular test that Orig3n sells is their ‘Superhero DNA Test’. While the majority of their tests are highly scientific and serious, this is the objection to the rule. This test is significantly cheaper than the majority of their others and is a lot more fun as it looks at your genetics to identify your ‘superhero’ traits.
This test looks at 3 main genetic traits to identify where your genetics excel the most and provide you with your ‘superhero’ trait, these traits are strength, intelligence, and speed.
The strength test looks to see if you possess a rare genotype that is found in less than 10% of the population that provides people with better strength endurance and makes them less likely to injure.
Whereas the intelligence test looks at your genetic ability to produce and understand speech and language which could push you to excel in education. Finally, the genetic test looks to see if you possess a gene for muscle protein that impacts the body’s ability to move at great speeds.
Finally, another extremely popular test produced by Orig3n is the ‘nutrition DNA test’. As its name suggests, this test looks at your body’s relationship with food, including weight gain, ability to absorb vitamins and your predisposition to like/dislike some foods.
Food is a huge part of modern-day life, and this test provides an excellent way for you to be able to improve your diet and your health along with it. This nutrition test includes food sensitivity, food breakdown, vitamins, hunger, and weight.
The first part of the test is the food sensitivity test which looks at whether certain foods will impact the way that you feel. This test looks at your genes to determine whether there are some foods that you should avoid in your day to day life to avoid it impacting the way that you feel, particularly looking at whether trigger foods such as alcohol and caffeine impact you.
The test also looks at your metabolism and your body’s ability to breakdown food, looking at the impact of both good and bad fats on your diet. As well as this, the test also looks at your body’s ability to absorb vitamins and the impact that your genetics have on your vitamin levels.
Finally, the test looks at whether you are likely to feel full or still feel hungry after a meal. This test looks at your genes to see how they impact your metabolism, appetite, and cravings, which are all important determinants in weight gain and management.
As well as these products, Orig3n offers a variety of others too. However, while their tests may seem perfect on the surface, no company is without their faults. So let’s take a look at some of the issues that customers have noticed with Orig3n.
Potential Issues with Orig3n
While Orig3n may seem like the perfect option for you, no company is without its faults, and it’s only fair that we provide a balanced review of this company’s products. On that basis, let’s take a look at some of the issues that people have noticed with Orig3n products.
The first thing that might put people off purchasing from Orig3n is that they are still a fairly new company. To a lot of people, a company that was only created in 2014 might seem like an uncertain option because they do not have the long history that a lot of other DNA testing companies have. Especially when you compare their short history to other DNA testing companies that were founded back in the 1900s.
That being said, Orig3n is an extremely different company from some of the more traditional DNA testing companies. While a lot of the companies that now offer health and wellbeing tests, originated in ancestry DNA tests and family tree research, Orig3n never went down this route.
Instead, the company was founded in 2014 with the sole intention of improving genetic knowledge for a better future. So even though it is a relatively new company, the entirety of its existence has focused on health research so the company has a lot of experience in this field.
Another potential issue that some people observe with Orig3n is closely linked to this. For a lot of people who are completing a DNA test, they want to find out as much as possible in one test. As Orig3n has a heavy focus on the different aspects that affect our health, they offer a lot of targeted tests rather than one that looks at them all.
They also do not offer any insight into your family history, which could be off-putting when a lot of companies offer combined ancestry, and health and wellbeing tests. However, Orig3n has always been clear that their sole intention is to provide insight into health and information that can cause people to make positive changes to their lifestyle.
A final issue that might put people off purchasing from Orig3n is the price of their tests. All of their tests are quite expensive and this might put people off, especially when the company does not offer a combined test. This means that you are paying a lot of money for a single test, and you will have to pay this price every time that you want to look at a different part of your lifestyle.
However, you are paying for the vast amount of research that Orig3n has into genetics and their future research into regenerative medicine which is a lot more than a lot of other DNA testing companies have.
So the cost of the test might be expensive but you are actually getting excellent value for your money in terms of detail in your results and the extensive research that has allowed the company to provide you with this research.
Alternative Options
While the issues that we have observed with Orig3n are very subjective, it seems only fair that we provide some alternatives if these issues were enough to put you off of the company. DNA testing for health and wellbeing is a market that has become highly saturated in recent years.
While the household name for health and wellbeing DNA tests has always been 23andMe, a lot of other companies have entered onto the market recently offering more focused tests, similar to what Orig3n offers.
A major company that offers a similar test to Orig3n is DNA Fit who aims to provide a holistic view of your health in terms of genetics, lifestyle and lots more. They offer diet, nutrient, and fitness tests as well as the ability to complete a DNA test to receive a tailored meal and training plans.
However, their range is significantly smaller and much less focused than the products that Orig3n offers.
Summary
In short, Orig3n is an excellent DNA testing option if you want detailed insight into how your genetics can impact your health and wellbeing.
They offer a variety of different products all at different price marks, enabling you to choose the one that suits you perfectly,