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Dr. David Castle Named to Form Ethics Advisory Board at Sciona, Inc.
BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Sciona, Inc., developer of the first genetic assessment sold directly to consumers through retail pharmacies,announced today that David Castle, Ph.D. will chair its Ethics Advisory Board.Castle is a globally-recognized bioethicist and is a principal investigator on three large-scale Genome Canada funded Genomics, Ethics, Law and Society (GE3LS) research programs. "The emergence of new scientific fields like nutrigenomics always raises ethical and social issues, many of which can be anticipated and proactively addressed for everyone's benefit," says Castle. "I am delighted to have accepted this invitation from Sciona. The creation of an Ethics Advisory Board demonstrates Sciona's commitment to providing high-quality products and services in a socially responsible manner."
Sciona has pioneered the development of products and services which combine human genomics and nutritional sciences for people interested in optimizing their health. "We're very pleased to have Castle's counsel on our innovative work in nutrigenetics," adds Jim Bruce, Sciona CEO. "His expertise will provide critical insight into the ethical considerations associated with our continued product development in this ground-breaking arena."
Castle earned his undergraduate BS in Biology and BA (Hon) at the
University of Alberta, an MA in Philosophy at McMaster University and his Ph.D. in Philosophy at the University of Guelph. He is now an associate professor at Guelph, a member of the Joint Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto and a member of McGill University's Centre for Intellectual Property Policy.
Cellf(TM) Genetic Assessments provide consumers with personalized health and nutritional recommendations based on an individual's diet, lifestyle and unique genetic profile. For the first time, individuals can collect a sample of their DNA using a simple cheek swab and complete a diet and lifestyle questionnaire at home. After doing so, they can receive a personalized and confidential nutrition and health assessment based on their genetic profile that they can review with their pharmacist or other qualified healthcare practitioner in the pharmacy. The five individual kits include:
Antioxidant/Detoxification Assessment; Bone Health Assessment; Heart Health Assessment; Inflammation Assessment; and Insulin Resistance Assessment. Nutrigenetics refers to the interaction between genes, diet and lifestyle. Individuals often inherit genes which put them at higher risk of negative health conditions. Since an individual's genetic makeup is fixed at birth, a person may be able to alter diet or lifestyle to significantly reduce the risk of developing certain common health conditions including cancer, heart disease and diabetes. This is the core concept behind nutrigenetics.
Nutrigenetic testing identifies genetic variations which indicate an individual's risk for developing specific health conditions and enables an individual to alter his/her diet and lifestyle to achieve his/her optimal health potential. Sciona's genetic tests analyze an individual's DNA, diet, lifestyle and nutritional supplementation using a proprietary software program to generate a confidential and highly personalized report filled with valuable information and an Action Plan that may help an individual to manage his/her potential risk of negative health -- all based on the individual's own DNA.
About Sciona
Sciona is a privately held, international company that provides personalized health and nutrition recommendations based on an individual's diet, lifestyle and unique genetic profile. The Company has created a powerful set of tools that enable consumers to harness the scientific information uncovered in the Human Genome Project. Sciona is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado with offices in Europe, and research facilities on the Yale University campus.
CONTACT: Jan Strode of Sciona, Inc., +1-619-890-4040
Category Sciona News Releases
Posted at 10:48 AM
