Advantages of NGS Genetic Testing

What is NGS Genetic Testing?

Genes are sequences that store all the genetic information of life. Gene sequences are primarily inherited from parents, but genes in different cells can also mutate. Nobel laureate in medicine, Dr. Susumu Tonegawa, believes that apart from external injuries, all diseases are related to genes. It can be said that genes determine one's birth, aging, illness, and death, making gene interpretation a major direction of research for countless scholars.

NGS genetic testing, also known as high-throughput sequencing technology, utilizes NGS sequencing instruments to perform genetic testing. This technology can simultaneously detect hundreds of thousands to millions of DNA molecules at once using parallel principles. Currently, it is often used in the screening of genetic diseases, prenatal testing or diagnosis, tumor clinical diagnosis, pharmacogenomics testing, cancer chemotherapy and treatment, as well as single-gene disease screening or diagnosis. NGS sequencing instruments can be used for liquid biopsies of blood and urine, or genomic sequencing of solid tumors. 

They can also perform DNA blood tests on pregnant women to screen for genetic diseases, thus avoiding the limitations and risks of traditional invasive tests such as amniocentesis. NGS genetic testing is characterized by its fast analysis speed, high accuracy, and short turnaround time.

NGS genetic testing is now widely used in the screening of genetic diseases, prenatal testing or diagnosis, tumor clinical diagnosis, pharmacogenomics testing, cancer chemotherapy and treatment, as well as single-gene disease screening or diagnosis. Among these applications, cancer screening is particularly important. Through NGS cancer screening, the early signals of cancer can be precisely detected, allowing for early diagnosis. NGS sequencing instruments can detect methylation signals in free DNA within a patient's blood samples, helping to discover cancer early and determine its type and origin.

Advantages of NGS Genetic Testing

Currently, many companies both domestically and internationally have applied NGS technology to the early screening of multiple types of cancer. Through NGS cancer screening, methylation signals of free DNA in the blood can be detected to achieve early cancer detection. The advantages of NGS genetic testing are as follows:

• More comprehensive, capable of detecting multiple types of cancer at once;

  
  

• Early detection, able to precisely capture cancer signals in the early stages;

  
  

• Precise localization, capable of identifying cancer signals and pinpointing the cancerous organ;

  
  

• Safe and fast, with no radioactivity or invasiveness, requiring only a tube of blood for the test.

Through NGS sequencing instruments, genetic testing can also be performed on patients with a family history of genetic diseases and their relatives to assess the risk of genetic diseases. These technologies aid doctors in better determining whether a patient is suited for specific immunotherapies or targeted drugs, providing personalized treatment plans, and predicting the future health status of patients. The accuracy and efficiency of NGS genetic testing are making it increasingly important in cancer screening, genetic disease diagnosis, and personalized medicine.