CircleDNA was founded back in 2014 when a team of professors got together and turned their attention to genetics and clinical research.
In six short years, CircleDNA has grown to a team of 150 scientists, genetic counselors, engineers, health coaches, and even more.
CircleDNA’s main focus is to teach people about their health before it is too late to do anything about it.
Their mission is to make late-stage diagnosis a thing of the past and give their users the opportunity to put a stop to potential illnesses before it’s too late.
They have expanded their services since they were founded and now offer four tests for you to choose from that focus on different factors of your life: Vitals, Health, Family Planning, as well as the Premium DNA test.
In this article, we’ll be looking at ClinicalDNA and how easy they are to use, as well as if you should even bother with them at all.
The DNA Tests
As we mentioned before, there are four tests to choose from when it comes to CircleDNA.
Each of these tests will appeal to you more or less depending on what you’re hoping to get out of the testing.
Let’s take a deeper look into each of the tests and what they tell us exactly.
Vital DNA Test
The Vital Test offers you a better understanding of your nutrition intake, diet, and overall wellness.
You can use the app to keep track of your diet and fitness levels, and you’ll receive personalized reports that take into account your genetic results.
You can also take advantage of the one on one phone consultation that will explain your results to you. You’ll have access to 125 reports tailored to you on things such as nutrition, stress and sleep, and diet.
Health DNA Test
The Health Test is more focused on preventing illnesses through managing their health better than merely looking at their diet and fitness.
This test comes with 36 cancer risk reports, 73 disease risk reports, and 6 brain health reports.
Using the 115 reports to learn more about your health and how likely you are to fall ill later in life will allow you to take preventative measures to reduce the risk. While not all illnesses are preventable, you can ensure that you’re prepared for what life might throw at you.
Family Planning DNA Test
The Family Planning Test is for people who are pregnant or who are thinking about starting a family.
You can test both yourself and your partner to determine whether you’re carriers of genetic conditions that could be passed on to your child.
The test can determine whether you’re carriers for 38 conditions that improve the risk of early childhood death and 71 conditions that could result in intellectual disability for your child.
Getting confirmation that you’re could pass on illnesses such as Cystic Fibrosis or Gracile Syndrome to your baby can help you take the necessary steps in preventing these illnesses from being passed on. You’ll also be prepared on what to do if your child develops one of these diseases.
Premium DNA Test
Finally, the Premium Test has been coined the ‘World’s Most Comprehensive DNA Test’.
This option pools all of the above tests and puts them into one, so you can learn about your vitality, health, and family planning risks all in one swoop. You also get two consultations with health professionals to ensure that you know exactly what your results mean.
Opting for the premium test also offers you annual updates for life, giving you more information about your results as you get older. Along with all of the above reports, you’ll also receive information about your drug responses.
This test offers you over 500 reports all about you, so you can know your body through and through.
How Does CircleDNA Work?
CircleDNA is very easy to use and doesn’t take much time out of your day at all. Simply choose the test that you’d like to purchase, and input your details for the test to reach you via post. Once you receive your test, take it and send it back with the included free-post envelope.
You’ll also receive a QR code that you can use to download the app onto your phone. Use this to download the app and wait for your results to arrive. The results come through the app after around 10 to 18 days after you send your test back.
Onc your results are in you can use the app to read your reports and learn more about your health and wellbeing. The next steps in preventing illness or enriching your life are up to you, and that’s how simple it is to use your CircleDNA test!
Taking the Tests
Once you receive your test in the mail, you’ll open the package up to find everything you need in good condition. You receive the instructions, a cheek swab, a vial to put the swab into once the sample has been collected, and a return envelope.
As the test is done by a swab of the cheek, you can complete the process within seconds. Rub the swab across the inside of your cheek for a few seconds, place the swab in the tube, and send it off with the free post envelope.
The test is not invasive or painful in the slightest and it shouldn’t make you feel uncomfortable in any way. The tests are also FDA-approved and sterile before you open it up to use it. The instructions are easy to follow and you shouldn’t have any issues with carrying them out.
After you send the test back to the lab, you’ll receive an email confirmation once it has arrived at its destination. This confirmation should also include an estimate on when the results should be ready by, and the company is generally good at keeping to this deadline. The app will also show you the progress of your test.
On the whole, the test is incredibly quick and easy to use. The instructions are helpful, but the test is so simple that you barely need to look at them at all. We like the fact that the swab only needs to touch your cheek rather than something more uncomfortable such as the nostril or the throat.
Using the App
The app is another great feature of CircleDNA and it could not be easier to use.
Once you receive the QR code with your test you can scan it with your phone and download the app within minutes (depending on your internet speed, of course).
Once you’re in the app you can create an account, which is another very fast process, and track the progress of your test results.
Once your results are in, you’ll be able to view them through the app. The app is very well-made and often uses different colors for different features.
You’ll be able to navigate around the app easily and we found the app to be very helpful. Even people who hate technology can use this app without the additional hassle.
We found the app to be very helpful and easy to use. The fact that the results are all digital rather than physical means that we could look over them quickly without having to wait for the post to arrive, and we can go back and visit the app whenever we feel like it.
Genetic Counselling
Each test includes one free one to one session of genetic counseling for every user. For the Health, Family Planning, and Premium DNA tests this session is carried out by a genetic counselor, and for the Vital DNA Test, the counseling session is run by a health coach.
This session is simple and laidback with the professional walking you through your results and answering any questions that you may have about them. The consultation is thirty minutes long, which isn’t always long enough for some people.
Having said that, it is still a good benefit that CircleDNA has put in place for its users. Even a shorter tutorial session on how to read your results can benefit a lot of people. When you get all of your results back you might be overwhelmed with the number of reports that you have access to, so it’s helpful for someone to be there to guide you through it all.
Overall, we found genetic counseling to be very beneficial when receiving our results back. The professionals are friendly and welcoming and they are knowledgeable enough to answer all sorts of questions you might have.
We only wish that the sessions were longer and that the Vital DNA Test came with the option for a genetic counselor as well.
CircleDNA Costs
The cost of the CircleDNA tests is quite high and more substantial than some of the market leaders, so we don’t think as highly as the price of these tests.
That being said, these tests are extremely thorough and interesting to partake in, so it’s down to you whether or not you want to pay the extra money and support a smaller company.
The Vital DNA Test is going to cost you just shy of £200. You might be thinking that the price is quite high for a test that only tells you about your nutrition and fitness levels, and you wouldn’t be the only person who thought that way. However, you should also consider the added benefits that CircleDNA offers you.
Both the Health and the Family Planning DNA Tests cost around £500, which again is higher than we’d expect to see. However, these tests offer you a lot of information into your health and body which a lot of people will find helpful. Whether or not you’re willing to pay that much will come down to how important potentially preventing illness is to you.
Finally, the motherlode of tests - the Premium DNA Test - prices in at just over £600. Considering the cost of the other three tests, we don’t consider the price of the most expensive test to be too high at all. In fact, if you’re going to opt for the Health or Family Planning test you may as well spend the extra £100 and get all of the added information.
Having said that, the premium option is not as detailed as the less expensive tests. So, if you’re only looking for information on your diet and nutrition, you might get more of an insight with the less expensive test rather than the premium alternative.
Looking into the costs of all of the CircleDNA tests made us gasp a little in shock, particularly the Vital DNA Test. However, if you’re interested in knowing your results and want to purchase a DNA test from a trusted company, perhaps you’d be willing to pay the extra money. Whether you think these prices are acceptable or not will depend on your personal views.
CircleDNA Science
The cost of the DNA tests from CircleDNA might have cause differencing opinions between us all, but one thing we cannot falter is the science behind it.
CircleDNA’s tests are 99.9% accurate out of the 300k samples that they’ve processed since being founded in 2016. If that doesn’t impress you, their laboratory is internationally accredited and full of market-leading DNA sequencing equipment.
WES Technology takes a comprehensive approach to scan the protein-coding genes, giving them accurate results every time. CircleDNA boasts that its approach offers them up to 50 times more data points than the market-leading DNA test company, 23andMe.
What we can gather from this is that CircleDNA gets deeper into your genetic coding much more impressively than any other DNA tests on the market can. The science behind CircleDNA is obviously very impressive and intriguing which is why we find this company so impressive.
Overall, the science behind CircleDNA gives us an insight into why it’s so popular. All of your data is thoroughly explored and no stone is left unturned. So, if you’re looking for a deep dive into your personal make-up and genetics, CircleDNA is a great option for you.
What We Love About CircleDNA
As you can see from above, there are plenty of great factors about CircleDNA that we love and think you will too.
For time’s sake; however, we’ve condensed this to only three main factors that we enjoyed the most about this DNA testing business.
Ease of Use
The first thing we loved about CircleDNA is how easy the entire process is to use.
From start to finish, you’re guided through the process and there is someone to help every step of the way. Choosing and purchasing your test could not be simpler, and the actual testing process is fast and simple.
As the test can be done at home, there is no need to visit a doctor’s office or get a referral. The delivery process is free both ways, so you don’t need to pay for returning your test either. The app is also easy to use and we really like how the results come digitally through the app.
The in-depth science behind it
CircleDNA uses market-leading DNA sequencing equipment to provide their customers with 99.9% accurate results.
We like this fact as if you’re paying premium prices, you want to be sure that you’re going to get the most accurate results as possible.
The company includes plenty of information on its website about the science behind their work, and we find it so fascinating to learn about. We strongly suggest you take a look if you’re considering purchasing one of their tests.
Options to choose from
We also like that you don’t have to pay the most expensive price if you only want to learn one or two things about yourself.
For example, some DNA tests require you to spend too much money on loads of information that you’re not interested in.
CircleDNA gives you the chance to refine your search for one of the categories: vital, health, and family planning. We like that we had the choice of what we wanted to learn about so that we weren’t wasting money.
What We Didn’t Like
In all honesty, there isn’t much about CircleDNA that we didn’t like.
The only factor that we wish was a little different is the high price point. Each of the four tests features a premium price point and the cheapest option is still around £200. For information about your diet and nutrition, we personally find this price a little steep.
Having said that, CircleDNA often runs discounted prices to shave a couple of dollars off of the final bill.
Final Say
Overall, CircleDNA is a high-quality DNA test kit that you can easily use form home.
The tests are accurate and there are four options for you to choose from. CircleDNA has created an easy to use application for you to read your results through and you also receive a complimentary consultation from a professional to help you through your results.
The prices are slightly higher than the market average, but you might still prefer to pay a premium free for the great benefits, customer service, and supporting a smaller business.