The building blocks that make up DNA molecules are called nucleotides. A nucleotide consists of three parts: a nitrogenous base, a sugar group and one or more phosphate groups.
More than 99.9 percent of our DNA (and therefore our hereditary material) is exactly the same from person to person. That is what makes us human and describes many of the crucial processes that all living things have stored in DNA. The last little bit, the 0.1%, of our DNA that is different makes everyone unique.
If we analyze your DNA, it is therefore a part of that 0.1% that we look at. Ultimately, with our analysis, we determine the genotype of only 0.02% of your DNA. We have again made a selection of these that we think is interesting for you and that has been sufficiently validated scientifically.
DNA consists of a long chain of nucleotides with the different bases: A, T, G and C. Variations can occur at several places in that chain. There is then another base in that spot.
In the first instance, we call a deviating base a mutation. If this mutation spreads in a population (certain group of people) and occurs in at least 10% of that population, we no longer call this a mutation, but a Single Nucleotide Polymorphism, also known as SNP (pronounced ‘snip’).
An SNP means that a single nucleotide has been replaced by one of the other three. This very small change in DNA can have a big impact. When this SNP changes the code for a protein, the function (or effectiveness) of this protein can change. For example, the protein may have an increased effectiveness or a reduced effect. In extreme cases, it can even yield a non-functioning protein.
