DNA App Spotlight: What Is The Genome Explorer?

Your genetic data provides a lot more information than just your ancestral makeup. DNA testing is an excellent tool to use for advanced health screenings too. What if you could screen your DNA to find and search for any specific traits and conditions you might have?

Genome Explorer analysis app works essentially as a search engine for your genes. There are several versions of this app offered, such as Free, Plus, and Premium.

No matter which DNA test you’ve taken, even if it wasn’t through Sequencing.com, you can still utilize the app to search through your DNA.

The genome explorer search engine allows you to identify any diseases, conditions, traits, and medication reactions that are associated with your genetic information.

You’ll also find information on how much scientific research supports the link between your DNA and the specific disease, trait, or medication reaction.

Numerous links to scientific journals and research will be right at your fingertips, so if you find something specific to your DNA you can do a deeper dive into the science behind it.

What’s the difference between Genome Explorer Free and Plus?

The Free version is what everyone who has a Sequencing.com account will start out with. It provides technical details surrounding your genetic information. Listed in your file will be each genetic variant along with the bioinformatics relating to each variant, such as the gene, chromosome number, position on the chromosome, and amino acid change (if there happens to be one).

With the free version, you will not be able to search for any conditions, traits, or diseases related to the genetic variants listed in your file.

Once you’ve discovered what genetic variants you have and you’re curious to see what their relationship is to your health you’ll need to upgrade to either the Plus or Ultimate versions.

Genome Explorer Plus

Genome Explorer Plus is designed for those who want more independence in their self-discovery and the ability to research diseases and conditions without relying on experts. With Plus, you can perform condition-based searches. It offers columns of data that connect your data to diseases, conditions, and research. You can view your genetic variants and their classifications, which are given one of five possible classifications indicating whether it is likely to cause a condition of concern. Additionally, you will get a confidence rating based on research submitted to the Clinical Variant Repository (ClinVar), an archive of reports at the National Institutes of Health. The Plus version also provides links to published research about a particular genetic condition and to data on that condition in the ClinVar database at the National Institutes of Health​⁠1​.

Genome Explorer Premium

On the other hand, Genome Explorer Premium is the most advanced version and is designed to help you make independent discoveries about your own genome without needing specialized genetics knowledge. It includes all the column data available in Genome Explorer Plus, as well as two new additions: Risk Version and Your Status. The Risk Version is the nucleotide base sequence at a certain position that is associated with a condition, and Your Status shows your status for each variant. Using Premium, you can search your genome for disease-related variants or variants that are considered possible risk factors by choosing “Your Status” as your search filter. You can select from 18 possible status categories in the search field, from “detected” to “possible increased risk” to “no impact”​⁠2​.