Grow your life expectancy
with the help of nutrigenetics!
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Science
The Advanced NGx nutrigenetic test is the result of 16 years of expertise in the field of Nutrigenetic and Nutrigenomic research in one of the most prestigious universities in The United States, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
At the design and development of the test benefited from a collaboration between Advanced Nutrigenomics and two other prestigious partners, which continue to support the project:
- Duke University, through the DNA Analysis Facility (read more here...) - Thermo Fisher Scientific which owns the sequencing patent for the Ion Torrent platform (read more here...). The sequencing platform for the Advanced NGx test is the Ion PGM Dx system, approved by the Federal Drug Administration, along with the platform's dedicated test reagents (FDA, USA, Class II Medical Device read more here...) - Mako Medical Laboratories, partner laboratory from U.S.A., accredited CLIA and ACAP which is doing the DNA sequencing. The data provided by the laboratory is then processed by Advanced Nutrigenomics, which develops a report provided to our clients (read more here...).
The Advanced NGx test is designed to assess your individual nutritional needs according to your genetic background.

1) Saliva is obtained and stored in a tube containing a dedicated preservative. This sample is then shipped to a CLIA and CAP accredited laboratory.

2) Genomic DNA is extracted from saliva using standard methods. The DNA quality is then checked using either NanoDrop, Qubit, or other methods suitable for ensuring that extracted DNA has the quality required for sequencing. Only those samples that pass the quality criteria are sequenced further.

3) The DNA is sequenced using the Ion Torrent technology. A Next Generation Sequencing library, designed using the Ion AmpliSeq Designer, and consisting of 335 amplicons is used to identify up to 387 genetic variations in up to 99 genes. After alignment to reference genome GRCh37.p12 (hg19), low quality and duplicate reads are removed and variants are detected using the Ion Reporter software. The Advanced NGx test detects single nucleotide polymorphisms and small insertions and deletions with a reportable sequencing depth of >20X. The targeted coverage is 100X, with most samples having an average coverage of above 1000X.

4) The genotypes identified are used by Advanced Nutrigenomics to generate a report containing nutrition-related, actionable advice using 73 genes, while 26 genes related to disease risk are included in a screening report. The algorithm used for nutrition assessment makes use of the latest published studies and involves genotype, haplotype, and gene-gene interactions analyses.


We are all different, and a part of this difference is as a result of our genetic profile.

Genetically, there are the differences that we all see, such as eye and hair colour, but there are also the differences we don’t see, how we metabolize nutrients for example, react to drug treatment, the way we deal with toxins, how well we react to different types of exercise – we all interact with the environment in our own unique way.

Genetically we are almost identical, but in each gene there are points of variation. It is in the combination of these tiny differences that we define our individuality, who we are.

But genes are not the whole picture, they don’t work alone and they don’t determine everything about us.

Genes interact with our environment – and modifying the environment modifies our “phenotype” – the way we are.
Because we have some control over our environment (in our case nutrition choices and exercise) we therefore can work to create the best phenotype for our lifestyle.

At GenetX we focus our work specifically on Nutrigenetics science with the aim of helping our customers train, eat and feel their best.
Scientific board
Mihai Niculescu
(MD, PhD) Founder and CEO Advanced Nutrigenomics, Adjunct Professor at The "Victor Bab...
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Founder and CEO Advanced Nutrigenomics, Adjunct Professor at The "Victor Babes" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania.

Internationally recognized expert in nutrigenomics. Between 2008 and 2015, having his own laboratory at The Nutrition Research Institute (UNC Chapel Hill), Dr. Niculescu focused on the relationship between nutrients (such as choline, fatty acids, polyphenols, etc) and the genetic and epigenetic background, as well as on the impact of nutrition upon epigenetic transgenerational inheritance. In 2015 Dr. Niculescu founded the startup company Advanced Nutrigenomics, serving also as Chief Science Officer for another startup company (Nutrigene Sciences) until 2016. In 2016 he became the project director of the NUTRIGEN project at UMF Timisoara, a 2 M euro grant awarded with EU funds by the Romanian Government.

His current work involves the development of his company in the field of nutrigenetics (Cary, North Carolina), and his work in Timisoara, Romania. He is the author of more than 50 scientific articles, book chapters, and the editor of a book on nutritional epigenetics. He is a peer reviewer for more than 30 scientific journals, and a grant reviewer for NIH (USA), MRC and DIABETES (UK), NWO (The Netherlands), KAUST (Saudi Arabia), and The QATAR Fund (Qatar).

He graduated the Carol Davila School of Medicine, Bucharest, Romania in 1995. He obtained his PhD at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2005.
Natalia Cucu
(PhD) Professor, Department of Genetics, Faculty of Biology, University of Buchare...
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Professor, Department of Genetics, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest. Chair for the Association for Epigenetics and Metabolomics (AEGM).

Professor Natalia Cucu has more than 20 years of expertise in epigenetics and molecular biology. Her teaching and research activity focuses on the intersection between genetics and epigenetics, and their roles in defining non-invasive early biomarkers and non-invasive diagnostic tools, as well as their use in the personalized treatment of cancer.

She is an active member of the Romanian Society of Medical Genetics (SRGM), and collaborates with geneticists in the field of reproductive malignancies diagnosis and rare diseases using biomarkers. President of the Association of Epigenetics and Metabolomics, implements new revolutionary concepts in biomedicine and nutrition.

After graduating from University of Bucharest (Biochemistry), she was involved in several post-graduate programs, including postdoctoral studies at The University Louisville, Kentucky (U.S.A.), and a doctoral program graduated from University of Bucharest.
Martin Kohlmeier
(MD, PhD) Research Professor, Department of Nutrition, Nutrition Research Institute, T...
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Research Professor, Department of Nutrition, Nutrition Research Institute, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, U.S.A. Visiting Fellow, Wolfson College, Cambridge University, U.K. Secretary, International Society of Nutrigenetics/Nutrigenomics.

Internationally recognized as an expert in nutrigenomics, Dr. Kohlmeier is the author of more than 65 peer reviewed scientific articles, and the author of two standard textbooks: "Nutrient Metabolism" and "Nutrigenetics: The Science of Personal Nutrition". His expertise in nutrigenomics and nutrigenetics is demonstrated by his involvement in peer and grant reviews, numerous editorial activities, his involvement as grant reviewer, and by his lectures at conferences. His long-term interests concern the role of genetic variations in the metabolism of nutrients and the translation of nutrigenetic information into practice.

Dr. Kohlmeier is the Chair of the ASN Nutrition Educators Meeting and Mentoring Committee, and Secretary for the International Society of Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics.

After medical school and residency training, Dr. Martin Kohlmeier completed graduate studies in bioinformatics, clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine at Heidelberg University, at the Max Planck Institute for Nutrition Research in Dortmund, and later at the Free University in Berlin.
Aurelian Bidulescu
(MD, PhD) Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Indiana U...
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Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Indiana University, U.S.A. Principal Investigator for one of the Jackson Heart Study "National Vanguard Centers", and Member/Investigator of the AdipoGEN International Consortium.

Dr. Bidulescu is an internationally recognized expert in the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease, and the association between genetic variations and the burden of metabolic diseases. He is the author of more than 45 peer reviewed scientific articles, ad-hoc grant reviewer for The National Institutes of Health (NIH), and for numerous scientific jolurnals.

His research interests include the areas of cardiovascular disease (CVD), metabolic syndrome components (such as abdominal obesity), adipokines (such as adiponectin, leptin and ghrelin), biomarkers for heart failure and left ventricular mass hypertrophy (such as brain natriuretic peptides) and their genetic components (genome wide association studies in the NHLBI CARe, whole exome sequencing in Minority Health GRID consortium), in relationship with ethnic disparities.

Recent interests include sleep quality and related biomarkers (ghrelin), coronary calcium score and bone mineral metabolism markers (FGF23), and psychosocial stress in relationship with obesity and CVD. Dr. Bidulescu initiated a nutritional epidemiology research project that investigates the role of dietary methyl-donors (such as betaine) as putative CVD risk factors.

Following his medical training at Carol Davila University of Medicine, Bucharest, Romania, and his master in Public Health at the Yale University, U.S.A., Dr. Bidulescu obtained his PhD at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, U.S.A.