Handok has expanded its genome testing service to children, the company said Monday.

Source: Handok homepage

The company has expanded its services to children by improving methods of saliva collection used to examine one’s DNA, Handok_한독(CEO: Kim Young-jin_김영진) said.

Genecare Kids provides more than 30 personalized health care methods to ensure children develop proper lifestyle habits from a young age based on one’s genetic information.

The service allows parents to customize health management practices according to the child’s unique genetic characteristics. Parents can, for example, customize diet based on the child’s unique hereditary characteristics, sensitivity to sweet and bitter taste, lacking nutrients, and the probability of obesity, among others.

Doctors will conduct the Genecare Kids examinations at designated hospitals where they are to use a DNA swab to obtain a sample of the child's oral epithelial cells. An accredited research laboratory in the United States will analyze the samples.

“Genes do not change over a lifetime. However, lifestyle habits can affect the genetic nature of obesity and onset of disease,” said a Handok official. “We hope to help children develop the right habits from childhood based on customized healthcare based on genetic information.”

Handok has supplied individual gene data analysis service, Genecare, since 2014 in partnership with the U.S. gene analysis service company Pathway Genomics. The Korean company has provided gene analysis results to more than 30 countries, including the U.S., since 2008.

yjc@docdocdoc.co.kr

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