When purchasing a genetic test, it is important to know which technique is being used to study genetic information since, depending on the technique, the results obtained are interpreted differently.
The two most commonly used technologies are genotyping and sequencing. Each technique studies DNA differently with different amounts of DNA. The differences between the methods explain the variations in the prices of genetic analyses.
Genotyping consists of studying genetic diversity by analyzing existing variations in the genome between individuals and populations. The goal of using genotyping in a genetic test is to determine the presence of SNPs that are related to the susceptibility to suffering from a certain disease.
On the other hand, DNA sequencing analyzes practically the entire DNA. Determining the complete DNA sequence allows for the discovery of somatic mutations generated between different organisms.
In other words, the main difference between both techniques is that genotyping means determining the presence/absence of SNPs, and sequencing is reading the DNA sequence base by base. This difference is what determines the price, with genotyping techniques being less expensive than sequencing.
At tellmeGen we offer both techniques. Our Starter and Advanced ranges work with the genotyping technique, while Ultra is performed with sequencing.
Find more information about genotyping and sequencing on our genetics blog.