As many already know, our DNA holds a wealth of information that not only makes up who we are as literal human beings but also who we are as a person, such as our traits, characteristics, personal strengths, and more. Thus, for those looking to understand themselves better, the best place to start would arguably be the blueprint for all living beings; our genes. From your ancestry to your circadian rhythm’s speed, much can be gleaned from analyzing your genes.
However, a few key aspects are worth paying more attention to as they could significantly improve your way of life in more ways than one. Below, we touch on three of these main facets and how they can guide you towards making more informed decisions about your life.
1. Personality Traits
Personalities differ from person to person, but recent studies have enabled researchers to explore various models of categorizing characters based on traits that groups of individuals collectively share. The most popular of these categorization models is the Big Five Model theory, which postulates that personality traits are composed of five broad dimensions, namely:
- Agreeableness: kindness, trust, affection, altruism, and other prosocial behaviors
- Conscientiousness: good impulse control, goal-directed behaviors, high levels of thoughtfulness
- Extroversion: sociability, assertiveness, talkativeness, and excitability
- Neuroticism: sadness, emotional instability, moodiness, anxiety about many things
- Openness: creativity, open to trying new things, happy to think about abstract concepts
Most of the traits you may use to describe your personality, such as shy, polite, ambitious, aggressive, and more, belong in either of these broad headings. For instance, characteristics like being bashful, friendly, and sociable are aspects of extroversion, while being thoughtful, kind, and organized belong in the conscientiousness spectrum.
According to extensive studies, both our genes and the environment influence these big five personality traits. Most notably, however, a twin study conducted by scientists W. John Livesley, Philip Vermon, and Kerry Jang has concluded that the heritable elements from this big five account for 40-60% of the variance. Thus, by taking a personality DNA test in Singapore, you can better understand why your personality is the way it is and how it affects your daily life, relationships, and career.
2. Disease Susceptibility
Diseases are part and parcel of life and often arrive when you least expect them. Defective genes are one such culprit that leads to these serious illnesses, and mutations in our genes cause them. Apart from abnormal mutations, some of these diseases are also hereditary and may stem from previous generations of your family history. These genetic conditions include Alzheimer’s disease and cancer, while others are medical conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, and chronic kidney disease.
However, with the help of genetic tests, you can be better informed on whether your genes have undergone mutation and which particular diseases you are likely to develop as a result. Moreover, this test is beneficial for those with a family history of genetic disorders in determining their risk of developing the same disease as their predecessors.
3. Athletic Disposition
Everyone has a knack for playing a certain type of sport, be it basketball, football, or something else, but often fails to realize it for several reasons. It may come as a surprise, then, that there is a quicker way of determining your aptitude towards sports besides manually investing time and effort into each one. The fitness genetic test in Singapore tests your genes and looks for patterns that indicate your potential athletic disposition and predict which sports you innately excel at. Moreover, this test also reveals other essential factors related to your fitness, such as endurance, training sensitivity, physical attributes, general wellness, and more, all of which could affect your performance in various sports.
Conclusion
Our genes play a substantial role in our lives in more ways than one, so it only makes sense to consider looking into them and gleaning information that could help us down the road. “Knowledge is power”, as the adage goes, and knowledge about ourselves – be it in our health, personality, fitness, and many others – can prove incredibly useful in everyday decisions and life-changing events.
