Demand for personalized nutrition has grown in recent years and is becoming mainstream. Berlin-based personalized digital health company LykonDX and Imagene Labs – a Singapore-based DNA personalization platform company – today announced a strategic partnership which combines both companies’ expertise to offer myDNA Nutriwell: a new DNA test and diet coaching program to help European consumers design their diets, and better empower them to take control of their own health and nutrition. This collaboration marks Imagene Labs’ entry into the European market.
Imagene Labs’ patented ancestry-based genetic risk analytics system enhances DNA result accuracy by using machine-learning process and comparing users’ gene data against their ethnically relevant reference genetic datasets, thus increasing the accuracy of recommendations to all customers. This inclusiveness is critical as racially-diverse customers are making individual health and wellness choices and decisions based on their own gene reports.
With the World Health Organization (WHO) reporting that nearly 60% of Germans are deficient in vitamin D – identified as being among the top key nutrients in immunity and a factor in combating COVID-19 infection – Lykon’s myDNA NutriWell is both timely and valuable. This DNA test analyzes more than 300 gene segments relevant to diet and identifies an individual’s predisposition for 25 possible nutrient deficiencies (including vitamin D) and food sensitivities even before they arise.
Personalized nutrition is dependent on how well an individual’s body processes specific nutrients, hence it is important to know both the right amount and forms of nutrients one should consume. Lykon’s user-friendly digital platform simplifies this by tailoring each person’s unique gene results into individualized easy-to-understand lifestyle, dietary and supplement recommendations that include personalized food tables designed by certified nutritionists and preventive medicine professionals to help compensate possible nutrient deficits.
LykonDX CEO Tobias Teuber shares, “Personalization is no longer a novelty or trend in the health and wellness industries, especially in Europe. It is becoming the benchmark by which consumers seek out ‘truly made for me’ solutions according to their unique health needs. We chose to partner with Imagene Labs because of their extensive experience in the genetics-driven wellness industry and high accuracy in their dietary recommendations.”
Dr. WONG Mun Yew, Founder and Managing Director of Imagene Labs, explains, “Studies have increasingly shown different ethnic populations have inherently different genetic risk profiles. For example, in deficiency risk of vitamin B12 – a nutrient essential in energy production, immunity and healthy nervous and digestive systems – approximately 28% of the East Asian population is at risk of deficiency based on its genetic predisposition. Europeans have a 1.6 times higher risk, with 45% of their population at risk. This is just one of many examples of how genetic risk traits are heavily influenced by ethnicity, and more accurate individual DNA results can be achieved by taking such diversity into consideration.”