Scientific Healthy Living Proposal 1 – CircleDNA Genetic Testing Report

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Why Get Genetic Testing

“Genetic testing? What, are you having a baby?” or “Why spend money on this?” When I chat with friends or family about genetic testing, most people’s reactions inevitably boil down to these two questions.

I first heard about CircleDNA in 2019, which was when I noticed that genetic testing services were available on the market. But after looking at the price, I found it a bit hard to justify and gave up. At the end of 2020, I read the bestseller 《Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams》, which discussed the importance of sleep, how coffee and alcohol affect sleep, and how lack of sleep might impact learning-related genes and DNA in hippocampal cells. Bill Gates also wrote 〈This book put me to sleep〉 on his personal website GatesNotes, stating that this book changed his sleep habits.

After reading this book, as someone who drinks coffee daily, writes articles and code while drinking alcohol, works hard toward personal goals every day, but doesn’t want to be riddled with ailments in old age, I seriously considered for the first time how to improve sleep quality and maintain health from a macro and scientific perspective, including diet and disease prevention. With this in mind, genetic testing once again emerged as an option in my thoughts.

Is This Money Worth Spending

“Physical health is more important than anything else,” “Prevention is better than cure” – many people say these things, but when it comes to actually taking action, especially spending money, most people hesitate. Of course, no matter how important something is, you can’t have an unlimited budget for it. But beyond just paying lip service to these slogans, it’s worth seriously considering how much you’re willing to allocate monthly for your physical health.

I’ll detail CircleDNA’s plans and pricing later, but let me give you a rough idea first. I purchased the highest-tier comprehensive genetic testing plan, originally priced at NT$19,690. I managed to snag a limited 50% discount and bought it for NT$9,963. Was this NT$9,963 worth it? I believe the answer is definitely yes, because you need to factor in time compounding and the actions you can take.

First is time compounding. Anyone with basic investment knowledge should have heard this term. The basic concept is letting time amplify your investment returns, with increasingly larger gains in later periods because your capital base grows larger. For example, if you start investing $10,000 annually at age 20 with a 5% annual return, you’ll have $1.21 million at age 60. If you start 10 years later at age 30, with the same 5% return, you’ll have $660,000 at age 60.

The most famous case of time compounding is probably Warren Buffett. Because he lived long enough, 99.7% of his wealth was accumulated after age 52, as shown in the chart below with its massive later-stage growth.

Applied to genetic testing, the logic is exactly the same: the earlier you start, the greater the benefit of this investment. Let’s take an example: if you do genetic testing at age 30, adjust your lifestyle based on your genetic profile, and live healthily to age 80, this $10,000 cost gets amortized over 50 years, averaging $500 per year. Plus, you might reduce medical expenses and physical and psychological suffering. More importantly, in a healthy state, you might achieve greater career success and earn more money – this return on investment is worthwhile no matter how you calculate it.

Second is the ability to take action. If you read this report, learn some things, but can’t take any action, then the report’s value is zero. Information that can’t generate action plans is worthless information. I’ll list some of my report contents below and how I’ve adjusted my daily lifestyle accordingly.

Why Not Just Get a Regular Health Check

This is another frequently asked question. Health checks reflect your body’s “current state” – they’re more like passively learning results. But what we really want to know is our body’s “essence,” so we can take proactive, predictive preventive measures. If your health check shows everything is normal, it might just be because you’re still young and some potential risks haven’t surfaced yet – but that doesn’t mean these risks don’t exist.

To use a simpler analogy, genetic testing is like getting exam tips beforehand, or even having the teacher leak the questions, while health check reports are your exam grades – when all results are already irreversible.

What is CircleDNA

CircleDNA is a tech company that provides genetic testing services through saliva samples, headquartered in Hong Kong with offices in London, Singapore, and other locations. If you’ve seen CircleDNA ads online, you might be quite surprised at how much marketing budget they must have spent to simultaneously get endorsements from G.E.M., Gigi Leung, Vanness Wu, and others.

In fact, G.E.M. mentions in the following video that Prenetics was the first tech company she invested in, and Prenetics is CircleDNA’s parent company. As a shareholder, personally endorsing her own company’s product makes perfect sense.

Indeed, celebrity endorsements seem to significantly strengthen CircleDNA’s marketing power, but product core value and advertising are complementary. If a product’s appeal isn’t clear and its quality and service are poor, even the biggest celebrity endorsements might not be very effective. Using celebrities to attract consumer attention, then using product value to get consumers to buy – CircleDNA has done quite well in this regard.

Additionally, many CircleDNA information and tutorial videos online are published by Watsons’ website or channels, because Watsons announced in 2019 that they would launch genetic testing services in Hong Kong. For details, please refer to 〈Watsons Launches Genetic Testing Services, Circle DNA Uniquely Listed in Hong Kong〉.

How Accurate Are the Test Results

To cut to the chase, I believe CircleDNA’s reports emphasize breadth over precision, suitable for people currently in good health who want a comprehensive report for early prevention. CircleDNA’s reports are like smartphones – complete functionality, but camera detail doesn’t match professional DSLRs, and speaker quality doesn’t match home theater systems. Therefore, if you have very specific goals, like prenatal genetic testing, you might be better suited for carrier screening; or if you want cancer genetic testing, you might be better suited for specialized precision medicine solutions. These solutions might require blood samples for testing, different from CircleDNA’s saliva-based approach. (Thanks to my friend Amy for providing this information).

Gene Sequencing Technology

Nebula is an American company offering services similar to CircleDNA. On their website, they list comparisons between their products and competitors, including CircleDNA. In their CircleDNA Review, they comment:

CircleDNA is a genetic testing company that focuses on various health aspects (diet, health, family planning, etc.) and includes genetic counseling. However, their claim to be the most comprehensive DNA test is misleading since they offer Whole Exome Sequencing rather than Whole Genome Sequencing.

Setting aside whether this review has competitive bias, regarding the above content, I consulted my friend and industry insider Hebe:

CircleDNA uses Whole Exome Sequencing (WES), while the most complete genetic testing method should be Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS). The difference is that DNA gets transcribed into mRNA, then translated into proteins, which are the basic units that make up cells. In fact, all proteins expressed in the human body only account for 1-2% of total genes, meaning most human genes don’t express as proteins; the remaining ~99% of genes mostly exist as background, though they have their functions and importance, mainly playing housekeeping roles.

Most human diseases stem from genetic defects that produce abnormal proteins, affecting bodily functions. WES tests exactly those genes that will become proteins, so it’s relatively low-cost, fast, and provides substantial information. In contrast, WGS sequences all human genes, including non-protein substances. While this provides the most complete genetic information, it’s time-consuming and very expensive, not cost-effective, so current technology still mainly uses WES.

Complete Purchase and Testing Process Guide

Choosing a Plan

CircleDNA offers different plans. Below are all the plans and all report items in the Comprehensive Genetic Testing plan.

Report Items

1. Dietary Sensitivities – 15 items
2. Cancer Risk – 36 items
3. Common Urban Disease Risk – 8 items
4. Hereditary Disease Risk – 163 items
5. Nutritional Needs – 20 items
6. Alzheimer’s and Brain – 6 items
7. Disease Risk – 65 items
8. Drug Response – 103 items
9. Exercise and Health – 18 items
10. Stress and Sleep – 8 items
11. Ancestry Analysis – 15 items
12. Skin Management – 14 items
13. Physical Traits – 12 items
14. Personality Traits – 5 items
15. Behavioral Traits – 5 items
16. Success Potential – 9 items
17. Gender Traits – 4 items
18. Artistic Potential – 2 items
19. Pollution Sensitivity – 5 items
20. Health and Longevity – 7 items

Purchase

CircleDNA frequently releases promotions during holidays, including Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Christmas, etc. Promotions include 50% discounts and buy-one-get-one-free offers. Since promotions are limited quantity, you need the determination and speed of grabbing concert tickets. Also, after securing a promotion, you only have five minutes to checkout, so I recommend preparing your credit card number and English shipping address before trying to grab promotions.

Receiving the Package

After completing your purchase, you wait for delivery. I placed my order on February 5, 2021, and received the package on February 17. Since Chinese New Year fell in between, delivery time was extended – under normal circumstances, it should be faster.

According to CircleDNA’s official website, CircleDNA has ten offices globally, including London, Singapore, and Hong Kong. If your delivery address is in Asia like mine, the package will likely ship from Hong Kong. After collecting your saliva sample, you’ll need to send it back to Hong Kong for testing, with FedEx handling round-trip shipping.

I must especially remind you that FedEx package information is basically all in English. So if your package is received by family members who can’t read English, remember to warn them in advance after completing your purchase that an English package might arrive soon. Since we often hear about package scams or forced sales nowadays, without prior notice, family members might be afraid and refuse delivery.

Yes, mine almost got refused.

Checking Package Contents

The key item in the package is obviously the sampling kit, including:

1. Quick start guide
2. Saliva sampling swab and tube containing preservative
3. Tube bag for holding the tube

If your delivery address is outside Hong Kong, sampling kits for other regions will include an additional FedEx shipping bag containing an instruction sheet, ID card front and back copies, plus prepaid airway bill, invoice, and customs documents – six items total. Customs documents may vary depending on your delivery country. You can refer to CircleDNA’s instruction guide.

Collecting Saliva Sample

CircleDNA’s official website provides detailed sample collection methods, and the packaging box also has instructions.

Returning the Sample

Returning the sample is the most troublesome step. First, we need to confirm how much time we have to return the sample. According to CircleDNA’s terms of service, consumers must return samples to CircleDNA’s laboratory within three months of purchase:

To ensure your DNA sample meets our quality standards, please return your DNA sample to us as soon as possible, and no later than three (3) months after purchasing the service. Three (3) months after the purchase date, we will not process your DNA sample. If you have difficulty returning your DNA sample to us, please contact our customer service team.

Next is arranging pickup, which involves several tasks:

1. Fill out the customs documents in the shipping bag.
2. Scan these documents and email them to FedEx Export Document Department (edd@fedex.com), or fax them.
3. Call FedEx to confirm whether documents have been received, and if there are no issues, arrange pickup.
4. Package the sample properly and put the documents back in the plastic bag outside the FedEx express bag.
5. Complete pickup.

Since CircleDNA has prepaid return shipping and already has a tracking code (the waybill number), you don’t need to register as a FedEx member – just follow the above steps.

While this process is somewhat tedious, it can actually be completed in two days. My own processing record:

• March 22, 9 PM: Sent email to FedEx mailbox
• March 23, early morning: Called FedEx to confirm documents were received and scheduled same-day pickup
• March 24: CircleDNA received the returned sample