GENIE Update from Dr. Shoemaker- Lessons From Genie 1

We have entered a new era in sophisticated testing for Lyme, mold and chronic fatiguing illnesses. Since the sequencing of the human genome, in the early 2000s, we have developed the ability to look at differential gene activation through new procedures coming from molecular biology. Deep down, we all know that everything that affects our body and our health comes from gene activation as DNA is the master controller of what our cells do.

We now know that the genes that help ribosomes make proteins and the genes that make mitochondrial enzymes function to produce most of our energy are impacted in chronic fatiguing illnesses. The sources of these cellular disasters come from compounds called ribotoxins, which are made by bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes. There is no blood test for ribotoxin exposure and yet 99% of people sickened by moldy buildings will show the complications of ribotoxin exposure, mainly “hypometabolism.” Similarly, people with Lyme disease refractory to antibiotics will routinely be shown to have hypometabolism as well.

Recently I did a consult on a patient who had used the new GENIE test to look at gene activation seen in chronic inflammation. She thought she had Lyme disease but as it turns out, the problem was not just Lyme. A complication of a defect in normal programmed cell death, called defective apoptosis, was the root cause of her endogenous source of inflammation. Added to her problem was her brain fog; she had a NeuroQuant done that showed at age 30 she had four areas of atrophy of gray matter nuclei. How can such a devastating abnormality in her brain be present?

The GENIE test had the answer. She had upregulation of coagulation genes such that amyloid beta protein binds to these gene products and creates a microvascular clot in brain tissue thereby causing neuronal injury. Sophisticated! If you haven’t heard of GENIE, please look at this link or read more about it on Surviving Mold on the homepage. GENIE is bringing answers to devastating illnesses that we have never had the opportunity to diagnose, much less treat before. GENIE is not a SNP test, it is looking at actual differential gene activation with values compared to controls in testing done in Bedford, MA.