Japanese firm to offer first-of-a-kind gene advice

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2008

TOKYO (AFP) — A Japanese company will soon start advising people what they should eat and how they should exercise based on custom-made analysis of their genes, in what the firm says is a world first service.

Signpost Corp, which will launch the service in April in Japan, will also assess risks of a heart attack and stroke while telling a customer how likely he or she is to suffer kidney and sight problems if hit by diabetes.

"Genes can tell various health risks ... such as if you are prone to be obese or tend to have problems with your blood vessels," Signpost business planning official Nana Ozaki said.

Anyone who wants to have the service would go to a hospital to give five millilitres (0.15 ounces) of blood for analysis of some 60 genes. The customer...