Spotlights by Melissa Westphal 2/17
Interview with Dr. Yael Joffe PhD
Founder and Chief Science Officer 3X4 Genetics
What intrigued you to become an expert in Nutrigenomics?
I was studying architecture when my gran died from cancer. It was all so quick and no doctor could give me answers to why cancer. What could we do to prevent it, and how could we have treated it better? No answers at all! So I left architecture to become a dietitian, hoping to find answers. This was many decades ago, and I was disappointed and frustrated not to find any of the answers I was looking for. After becoming a dietitian I was working in London, when I was lucky enough to meet Dr Rosalynn Gill, a geneticist and a visionary who believed that the future of health and medicine was nutrigenomics, the scientific field that looks at the relationship between genetics and nutrition. I was hooked, and joined her start-up, the first company to build a nutrigenomics test for the market, as early as 2000. I knew so little about genetics, but I would learn. A few years later I went back to university to get my PhD in the genetics of obesity. I have been working in this field for 25 years, and I finally feel that I have found the answers I was looking for.
Why is genetic testing important?
Genetics give us insight into who we are and how we respond to the world around us. Our diet, lifestyle, environmental exposure, stress, trauma, exercise, hormones, and more. Our DNA sequence code is 99.9% the same, but we are 0.1% different, and if we can understand how we are different and how we respond, we can make the best possible choices for ourselves to live our healthiest life. That’s the value of genetic testing, knowing ourselves at the deepest level. Nothing is more personal than our genes.
What are the key principals of 3x4 genetics?
We are not interested in predicting a disease, rather we study your genes to understand how optimally your body is functioning, understanding your 0.1%. We look at metabolic processes like detoxification and inflammation, heart health, blood glucose, hormones, weight, exercise, nutrients, and so many more. We analyse the genetics of these areas to understand where you can intervene to craft the most personalised and targeted diet, lifestyle, exercise and supplement plan. We also provide this information in a way that can be easily understood and engaged with. We have more than 8000 incredible clinicians who are trained to use 3X4 Geneticsreports with their patients to optimise their treatment plans, so if you want to dive even deeper, we will make sure you have the team to support you.
