DNA Upgrade and Upload Services - FAQs

Friday, January 18, 2019. Author FitnessGenes

FitnessGenes are proud to announce the launch of two new services:

• GSA Upgrade - an opportunity for our earlier customers to have their existing sample re-tested using the latest DNA analysis technology.

• 23andMe/ Ancestry.com Upload - an opportunity for new and existing customers to upload their 23andMe or Ancestry.com DNA data.  

Am I eligible for these new services?

Please see the following flowchart and associated notes to see whether you are eligible for the Upgrade or Upload Services.  

If you are already a customer of FitnessGenes:

1. and you purchased a DNA analysis service from FitnessGenes before 1st February 2018, and have not had your DNA analyzed by 23andMe or Ancestry.com, then you would benefit from our new GSA Upgrade service. (Box 1. in flowchart).

2. and you purchased a DNA analysis service from FitnessGenes before 1st February 2018 and have also had your DNA analyzed by 23andMe or Ancestry.com, then you would benefit from our Free Upload service. (Box 2. in flowchart).  

In both cases, if you are eligible for either service, you will see a message in your Member's Area (under the menu bar) or an Upgrade option in the menu bar.

If you aren’t yet a customer of FitnessGenes:

3. and you have already had your DNA analyzed by 23andMe or Ancestry.com, then you would benefit from our paid Upload service. (Box 3. in flowchart)

4. and you haven’t had your DNA analyzed by 23andMe or Ancestry.com, then we recommend you visit FitnessGenes.com to learn more about our leading edge DNA analysis and our personalized workout and nutrition plans. (Box 4 in flowchart)

Note: If you purchased a DNA Analysis service from FitnessGenes on or after 1st February 2018, and you don’t see a message, or Upgrade menu bar option, in your Member’s Area then don’t worry – your DNA has already been analysed using our latest technology!

Similarly, there is no need for you to upload a 23andMe or AncestryDNA data file (should you have one), as this will not generate any new DNA results, Insights or Actions. If either of the above apply to you, feel free to ignore the rest of this article.

What is the GSA Upgrade service?

The Upgrade service allows our earlier customers to have their DNA analyzed using the latest Illumina Infinium Global Screening Array (GSA) technology. This is essentially a biochip (known as a DNA microarray) that uses lasers to read thousands of your gene variants (SNPs) with a high degree of accuracy.

If you purchased a DNA Analysis from FitnessGenes before 1st February 2018, your DNA will have likely been analyzed using our older (PCR-based assay) technology. While this is still a highly accurate process, it is limited by the number of gene variants we can test. You will only have had up to 42 gene variants tested.  

As more scientific research linking gene variants to workout, nutrition and lifestyle emerges, FitnessGenes will release new DNA results, Personal Insights and Actions. To benefit from this, you will need to have hundreds to thousands of other gene variants analyzed using our newer GSA biochip.

Alternatively, if you have had your DNA analyzed by 23andMe or Ancestry.com, you can simply upload your DNA data file. This option works because both 23andMe and Ancestry.com use similar biochip technology to us and their DNA data sets are now compatible with our TrueTrait(™) algorithm, which creates your Insights and Actions.

What are the long-term benefits of the Upgrade service?

The upgrade gives us the potential to analyze up to 650,000 SNPs (gene variants) compared to just 42 SNPs using our older technology. Access to a greater number of DNA results gives you a more holistic picture of your physiology and enables us to create you new Personal Insights and Actions.

In the coming year, we are planning to release over 40 new Personal Insights and related Actions driven by newer gene variants.

You will need to have your DNA analyzed by the new GSA technology (or otherwise upload a 23andMe / Ancestry.com file) to benefit from this.

What are the immediate benefits?

By upgrading and having your DNA re-analysed, you’ll immediately receive new DNA reports, Insights and Actions related to:

• alcohol metabolism
• eating behaviour
• vitamin D metabolism
• HDL cholesterol levels
• glucose metabolism

How much do the Upgrade and Upload services cost?

GSA Upgrade - £59 / $79 (USD) (25% discount in the first week of our launch, using the discount code UPGRADE25).

23andMe or Ancestry.com Upload (Existing FitnessGenes customers) - Free.

23andMe or Ancestry.com Upload (New customer) - £39 / $49 (USD).

Please note that the above prices are applicable at the time of writing, but are subject to change in the future. 

Do I need to provide another saliva / DNA sample?

GSA Upgrade

In the vast majority of cases, you will not have to provide another saliva/DNA sample. We will simply retest your existing saliva sample that has been securely stored.

In a small minority of cases, we may require you to provide a new saliva sample. In these cases, we will send you a DNA kit free of charge.

23andMe / Ancestry.com Upload

You will not have to provide a saliva/DNA sample, as we simply use the gene results in your 23andMe or Ancestry.com DNA data file.

Do I have to upgrade or upload?

Although we recommend that customers upgrade/upload to receive new DNA results, Insights and Actions, it is by no means mandatory.

If you choose not to upgrade/upload, your existing DNA results, Insights and Actions will remain the same and you will retain all your Workouts and Nutrition plans. You are of course very welcome to upgrade or upload 23andMe / Ancestry.com data at any time in the future.

Why isn't the GSA Upgrade free?

Regrettably, as much as we’d like to offer the GSA upgrade for free, the costs of new GSA chips and laboratory processing make this financially nonviable. We have priced the upgrade as competitively as we can in order to help as many customers to upgrade as possible.

I am a 23andMe/ Ancestry.com customer – how do I download my DNA data file?

23andMe and Ancestry.com allow you to download your "raw data" or DNA data file.  

Please follow the instructions below.

Downloading a 23andMe file:

• Login to your 23andMe account and go to the home page.

• Click 'Tools', then 'Browse Raw Data', then click on the download tab.

• Scroll down until you see the "Submit request" button.

• When your download file is ready you will receive an email to the address associated with your 23andMe account.  Files are usually ready within 1 hour.

• Follow the instructions in the “Your 23andMe raw data download is ready!” email.

• The data file will be downloaded as a zipped (.zip) file, with a name beginning with “genome” (search your computer for a file containing the word “genome” if you can’t find it).

• Some computers automatically unzip the file; in this case look for the text (.txt) file instead of the zipped (.zip) file.

• For more information please visit https://customercare.23andme.com/hc/en-us/articles/212196868-Accessing-and-Downloading-Your-Raw-Data.

Downloading an Ancestry.com file:

• Login to your Ancestry account.

• Click the DNA tab in the menu bar and select 'Your DNA results summary'.

• On your DNA home page, click Settings on the right hand side of the page.

• In the panel on the right hand side, click 'Download Raw DNA Data'.

• Enter your password and check the box.

• Click 'Confirm'.  This triggers an email, to the account associated with your Ancestry account, containing a link to confirm the download.  It may take up to 24 hours for the email to arrive.

• When you receive the email, open it and click 'Confirm Data Download'.

• On the Download DNA Raw Data page on Ancestry, click 'Download DNA Raw Data'.

• The file will be downloaded to your computer with a file name of AncestryDNA.txt (or .zip).

• For more information please visit https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Downloading-Raw-DNA-Data-1460089696533.

How do I upload my 23andMe/ Ancestry.com DNA data file to FitnessGenes?

Once you have downloaded your DNA data file (see above), you can upload it to FitnessGenes.

If you don’t already have an account with FitnessGenes (i.e. you are a new customer), then you need to create an account which will hold your DNA data:

• Go to my.fitnessgenes.com.
• Click register.
• Enter your details and select the appropriate options to create your account.
• Verify your email address.
• Log back into your account (at my.fitnessgenes.com).
• Scroll down and find the "Upload your data from 23andMe & Ancestry" section.
• Click "Upload your data".
• Enter your activation code.  This has been sent to you in an email after purchase.  
• Click "Activate".
• Find and upload your file
• Select where your file has been sourced from e.g. 23andMe.  This tells us what type of file to expect.
• You should see a progress bar that eventually reaches 100%. Please continue to wait until you see a message that says "We have successfully loaded the genetic data into your profile!"
• Click 'Continue'.
• Please answer the questions.
• When you are asked for an activation code for a Genetic Workout System, either please press 'Skip' or enter the code (this is a different code to the one you used earlier).
• You will now be taken to your Member's Area.
• We recommend you complete your Lifestyle survey at the beginning.  We use this data to further personalize your recommendations. Please click on 'Settings', then 'Lifestyle survey', and answer the questions as best as you can.
• You now have access to our DNA reports, insights, actions (all under You), and our nutrition calculator.  Take a look around.
• If you have ordered a workout plan as well:
• Please click on 'Workouts, All plans'
• Click on 'Start plan' - this alters your nutrition calculator to match the plan.
• Click 'Let's Go' to load up day 1 of the workout.

If you are already a client of FitnessGenes (i.e. you have had your DNA analysed by us before):

• You will see a message in your Member’s Area, or an Upgrade option in the menu. Click on either.
• When a new window pops up, click 'Upload'.
• Click the browse button and find your file.
• Select where your file has been sourced from e.g. 23andMe.  This tells us what type of file to expect.
• You should see a progress bar that eventually reaches 100%. Please continue to wait until you see a message that says "We have successfully loaded the genetic data into your profile!"
• Click 'Continue'.
• You will now be taken back to your Member's Area.  We hope you enjoy reading the new information!

I need further assistance - who can I contact?

Please send an email to support@fitnessgenes.com - a member of staff will be more than happy to help.