News & Views on Systemic Body Odor and Halitosis such as trimethylaminuria TMAU. If you have fecal odors or bowel odors it may be metabolic/systemic

9 September 2016

Exome testing for systemic body odor

Exome test for $399 (beta price, summer 2016).
Direct to consumer (not NY or FL).
Genos (based San Francisco).
A 'beta phase' price offering that may increase. 
This might be a good affordable way of testing your coding genes rather than just 1 gene (e.g. FMO3).

Exome testing for systemic body/breath odor
My guess is that FMO3 enzyme flaws will be responsible for most cases of systemic/metabolic body/breath malodor. But, I may be wrong, or it may be more complex than that (e.g. compounded enzyme faults acting together to create a bigger flaw).

So for that reason I still consider the genetics of systemic body/breath malodor to be unknown, and any testing would need to be very exploratory and broad. Currently DNA testing is still at an early stage and the main limitation for most is probably cost.

Genos Exome testing ($399 'beta price' Summer 2016)

Genome : this is your full DNA code including all the junk.
Exome :  this is the 'coding part' of your DNA, so the most important. About 3% of genome / about 24,713 genes. 
Gene : the exome is made up of all the important gene's coding part.
SNP/mutation : this is the sole faults in a gene. you can have a few in a gene (compounded)

Until recently probably testing a single gene (e.g. FMO3) would be the most affordable, but obviously limited to that sole gene. Genomic testing will someday become the norm but is still too expensive. But Exome testing is now getting to a price that it probably makes sense to do Exome testing rather than single genes. A bit like getting the whole box of sweets rather than having to pick one.

Exome testing direct to consumer (DTC) :
DTC genetic testing can be difficult to access due to the traditional set-up of the health system (probably worried about money loss rather than health). 23andme tests a range of variants but it's a pretty random list. Also they have been 'crippled' by the FDA since 2012.

Genos exome testing :
Genos look like they may have found a way to offer dtc Exome testing without the FDA clamping down (for now).

I like the look of Genos Exome test because (but I could be wrong) :
Looks the cheapest exome test at the moment ($399, beta price).
Is a US Venture-backed startup (one investor is BGI) based in San Francisco.
Sequencing service is currently performed at a CLIA certified referral lab located in USA.
Similar set-up to 23andme.
Saliva sample.
Other reasons (can download raw data, delete account and data, I own data)

Why I may Exome test for systemic/metabolic malodor :
I already have my FMO3 code (which cost me about the same as this Exome test). But so little is known about systemic/metabolic (same meaning) breath/body odor that I do not want to rule any gene out.
In particular, I am interested in the broad-spectrum 'detox' enzymes. This would be the the 'oxidizer' enzymes (alongside FMO3) such as the CYP450 enzymes, and the conjugation/'phase 2' enzymes such as sulfation, glucorinidation etc. These enzymes often alter drugs (pharmakinetics).
My bias would be to look at the 'oxidizers' but I may be wrong. That's what's good about exome/genome testing.

We have 1,000s enzymes but it seems to me the enzymes above are the only real 'broad spectrum' enzymes that alter many different compounds. If someone smells of 1 thing, then I would guess it could be any enzyme, but when you can smell of many different (unpleasant) things then my guess it is one (or more) enzyme that alters many different compounds.

So for reasons of price compared to single gene testing, the scope of genes tested, and other reasons, this is why I may Exome test at some point (until genome testing becomes cheaper), and at the moment Genos would be my likely lab to test with.

Final thought
So now I don't suggest doing the single gene test for FMO3 anymore. Probably for the same price (or cheaper) and without the hassle of a standard CLIA lab's traditional procedures, you can now test FMO3 and all the other important genes in an EXOME TEST.

Keep in mind the $399 price will probably not last long, but in general DNA testing prices are continuing to fall.

Note :
I am no DNA expert, so ...
Genos exome test may not meet my expectations.
You will need to read more about them yourself.
I haven't done this test.

Update Nov 2016 : 
Genos contacted me to correct something. I said they were owned by Chinese company BGI.
They replied :
'Actually, Genos is a venture-backed startup.  BGI is one of our investors, but we are not owned by BGI.  The headquarter of Genos is located in San Francisco, CA, USA.  Our sequencing service is currently performed at a CLIA certified referral lab located in USA as well.'  


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Update Aug 17 :
Genos is back with it's EXOME test
link

Note :
Exome/Genome testing may be better option than single gene testing.

See this post : link

Note : Genos Exome Testing.

Exome testing is almost the same price now as single gene testing. Also Genos is consumer friendly, which standard DNA labs are not.

So the blog offer to test solely for FMO3 is almost obsolete, and so no longer offered.


Does Genos fully sequence FMO3 gene ?

At the moment it is not clear, but hoped this will become clear over the next few months

Note : possible 'wild west' way of testing FMO3
Use an ancestry dna site and rummage through the raw data

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