Is Genetic Testing for Type 2 Diabetes Worth It?

Nina Boone

About 9% of Americans have diabetes. 95% of people with diabetes have type 2. (1) This means that it is likely that one of your family members, friends or even you could develop this disease! Type 2 diabetes normally develops in adults and can lead to death. It is important for you to catch warning signs of diabetes early because it can be prevented. You could develop diabetes from genetics but also from environmental factors. Approximately 70 genes have genetic variations that can impact the trait. (1)

The five most common genes that are associated with type 2 diabetes are TCF7L2, ABCC8, CAPN10, GLUT2, GCGR. (4) TCF7L2 affects insulin secretion and glucose production. ABCC8 helps regulate insulin. CAPN10 is in Mexican-Americans and is associated with type 2 diabetes risk. GLUT2 helps move glucose into the pancreas. GCGR is involved in glucose regulation. (2)

Each gene only contributes 1-2% more risk to developing type 2 diabetes but the more you have the more at risk you are. (3) Environmental factors are more influential than genetic!

Someone could get a genetic test for type 2 diabetes so they can see how at risk they are of developing it in the future. Blood tests are more accurate but more expensive. (1) However, I would not recommend taking one of these tests considering the low likelihood of these genes affecting your chances of getting diabetes.

You might not want to take one of these tests if you have had no one in your family that has had type 2 diabetes and you live a healthy lifestyle. Environmental factors have a large impact on someone’s likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes so eating right and staying active can help you prevent this. (4)

If you do decide to take a genetic test and you test positive for having a gene variation that can cause diabetes, you should get further testing by your doctor to test your glucose levels and see if you already have it. (1) If you don’t, it will be less likely that it will develop if you are healthy, so get active and eat right as well as quit smoking if applicable to lessen your chances of developing it. Eating less sugar as well as keeping your immune system strong are very important. This is why quitting smoking can be detrimental for many people with diabetes. If the test comes back negative, you can still be at risk of developing diabetes so you must also say healthy in order to lessen your chances. You may also want to get regular glucose tests.

Overall, I do not recommend taking a genetic test for type 2 diabetes. There are so many other factors that go in to developing diabetes that it is not worth the cost of paying for a test. I recommend staying as healthy as possible by eating right and exercising regularly. Also if you are very concerned for your risk of having diabetes, get regular check ups with your doctor!

Resources

(1) Dean, Laura. “Genetic Factors in Type 2 Diabetes.” The Genetic Landscape of Diabetes [Internet]., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 7 July 2004, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK1665/.

(2) “rs4402960.” SNPedia, www.snpedia.com/index.php/Rs4402960.

(3) “Type-2 Diabetes.” SNPedia, www.snpedia.com/index.php/Type-2_diabetes.

(4) Winter, Sarah. “Genetics of Type 2 Diabetes: Environmental Factors, Prevention, More.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 5 Sept. 2019, www.healthline.com/health/type-2-diabetes/ genetics.

Clarke Central High School Outreach

Nina Boone

In class we did soil dilutions and then plated our dilutions on different tet plates. We then incubated the plates and waited for bacteria to form. Once there was bacteria we counted the colonies and decided what dilution and tet produced the most bacteria. Once we completed the experiment in class we went to a local high school and helped the students complete the same assignment. We helped them count and record the bacteria that had grown on their plates. The exact experiment will most likely not be similar to something I do in the future but I enjoyed reaching out to the high school and helping the students so I could see myself doing something similar to this.

I learned that I understood the experiment much better once I had to teach it to high school students. I really enjoyed doing a hands on project where I actually got to interact with younger biology students. I also could tell that the students got a better understanding of antibiotic resistance which was very satisfying since it meant that my work had paid off.

Climate Change Model UN

Nina Boone

When I played my role in the policy exercise, I felt like many countries were very stingy with their money and willingness to change the peak year of their country.

· How did your reaction, comments, feelings; and shifts (if any) in negotiating positions evolve across the rounds and discussions? At first I didn’t really understand exactly what we were deciding upon but once other groups began discussing options with us I was able to grasp the idea that as China it was inevitable that we would produce a lot of CO2 emissions and minimizing them was important but the development of our country and its people was also very important.

· How did your group change their ideas? At first we were giving $10 billion and had our peak year very late in 2040 but we changed these to $13 billion and 2030.

· What prompted that change? The US table came to talk to us and convinced us to do this and said they would match us. This lowered emissions and gave money to India so they could also do the same.

· In the end, do you think that emissions can be cut? Realistically I don’t think we could get it to the point we got it to in class which was and increase of 2.3 degrees Celsius. Many countries are way more stingy with their resources and policies than we were.

· What were the major costs and barriers to implementation of participant proposals? Being China, our main barriers were that afforestation and spending a lot of money meant less farm land and resources for our people who are already struggling. This made us not make as much change as other countries.

· How can we catalyze change in the US? We need to go to our administration to catalyze change because large amounts of CO2 emissions cannot simply be fixed in a singular household.

Scavenger Hunt Reflection- Nina Boone

In this picture you can see one of the many culverts we have here on campus.
One thing that struck me in this picture is how small the area that is exposed to light is meaning that the water is mostly underground.
This picture makes me think about how much of the water system here at UGA is underground. I wonder how different our campus would look if all the streams were completely above ground. There are so many of these culverts across campus that students don’t think twice about them when they pass but they are really part of a complex water system.
When I look at this picture, I fell curious about the network of waterways that can’t be seen from above ground.
I think this picture is about how big and important the watershed here at UGA is however we can only see parts of it and therefore students aren’t very conscious about how they treat it.

Introduction- Nina Boone

Previous experience with science: I took an AP Physics 2 course my senior year of high school. I decided to take it after taking honors physics 1 the year before. I also took honors chemistry and honors biology in high school however physics was the class that most interested me because it was just as interesting as it was challenging.

What I want out of this course: I would like to gain a broad understanding of biology and be able to educate my peers on things that are happening in our community.

Projects that interest me: The tailgating project interests me because I love football and tailgating so being able to make that experience more clean and safe would be a great thing for the community especially at UGA. I think the fact that many of my peers participate in tailgating and contribute to the trash build up and littering will make them more inclined to help with this project.

Things I might learn: I’ll learn how to communicate to students about how their actions can greatly affect the environment. I believe I can make a difference on campus with this service learning project.

Things I want to learn: I want to learn about some microbiology but also some anatomy and how the human body works.