Genotyping for consumers

By licensing its haplotyping database to Sciona Ltd., pharmacogenomics company Genaissance Inc. has got its foot in the door of the consumer market, an arena where GNSC believes genetic variation information will be used, but where the company does not want to focus on its own.

Sciona (Havant, U.K.) develops and markets tests for SNPs in genes that affect an individual's response to drugs, foods or environmental conditions. To date, Sciona has developed three marketed products - NutritionScreen, AlcoholScreen and DrugScreen - that it says provide an individual's genetic profile and other information to "appropriately qualified practitioners" to aid in dispensing health advice...