Genetics and IBD.

At 23andMe, we believe genetic data plays a critical role in research. Knowing more about how genetics relate to a disease can provide additional information on how people might respond to treatments, which may eventually lead to a cure.

Today, there are very few medications for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), a chronic, inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract (the two main diseases of IBD are ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease ). Maintaining the quality of daily life can be a challenge. It is not known which medications will be effective on individuals and some IBD medications stop working over time. There is very little those diagnosed with IBD can do and often times, surgery becomes the only solution available.

We believe DNA may play a critical role in IBD treatment. Genetics has started playing a larger role in medicine over the past few years. And genetics could provide insight as to why some people are more likely to get IBD and why people respond differently to treatment options and drugs.