The science, plainly

What your child’s DNA can tell you, and what it can’t.

A DNA test shows tendencies, not certainties. Here is how the results are made, what goes into your child’s review, and where it all comes from.

A child at a desk pointing upwards
From sample to review

How the results are made

STEP 1

The sample

A cheek swab under 5, saliva from 5, taken with your consultant.

STEP 2

The laboratory

Read on a customised Illumina array in CAP-accredited laboratories.

STEP 3

The reports

Markers are compared with published research and a wider population.

STEP 4

The review

Your consultant focuses on what matters most at your child’s age and turns it into a plan.

In the laboratory

How the sample is read

Under 5, your consultant takes a gentle cheek swab. A baby or young child can’t spit to a fill line, so the swab is what makes the test workable from 1 month. From 5, it’s a saliva sample. If your child has been unwell or on antibiotics, wait until they’re fully better, so the sample holds only their DNA.

At a CAP-accredited laboratory, the DNA in the sample is read on a custom array designed by our laboratory partner and made by Illumina. It directly measures around 700,000 genetic markers. More are estimated through statistical imputation, and the results are worked out with validated polygenic risk score models. This is genotyping, which reads known markers. It isn’t sequencing.

Every card in the review ends with “Why we say this”: the markers and published studies behind the finding, and a single word for how strong the evidence is, such as moderate or early. Early means the research is still young, as it is for learning, so your consultant treats that card as a gentle starting point rather than a firm lean. Either way, a result is a tendency, never a label.

What goes in the review

Up to 502 reports, sorted for a child

Your parent account holds the full library of reports. The review focuses on the reports that matter most at your child’s age. A few reports apply to boys or girls only, so the numbers below are the most any one child will see.

106

Looked at

Checked for your child across the eight areas. A finding that matters gets a card.

81

Working quietly

They shape the food and routine suggestions, without appearing as a result.

158

For when they're older

Real reports, but not about childhood. They stay in your account.

157

In your parent account

Adult conditions, medicine responses and lab values.

Sources

Where it comes from

Illustration of children sitting together

MyDNA provides direct-to-consumer genetic testing for wellness and informational purposes. It is not a medical diagnostic test and does not replace medical advice, diagnosis, health screening or treatment. Genetic predisposition indicates likelihood, not certainty. Always consult your child’s paediatrician about their health, and before starting any supplement.