Tommy Wood - Lies, Damn Lies, and Genetics - AHS19

Nothing in biology is certain, and the nature of statistics means we can only think about the probabilities. The same is true of genetics; your genes alter the probabilities, but they do not determine the outcome. While we are increasingly obsessed with our genome, and can measure tens of thousands of changes in our individual “code”, we forget that almost no intervention has been truly tested based on common genetic differences. And those that have often prove unsuccessful. In fact, multiple studies now show that simply thinking you have a certain genetic polymorphism has a greater effect on your physiology than the polymorphism itself. This is particularly concerning considering that direct-to-consumer genetic testing is often not accurate. This talk will cover why genetics are just probabilities that should never be our main focus, and why the environment will always triumph when it comes to your health. ----- Tommy Wood, MD PhD Dr. Tommy Wood is a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Washington. He studied biochemistry at Cambridge, received a medical degree from Oxford, and has a PhD in physiology and neuroscience from the University of Oslo. He is the President of Physicians for Ancestral Health, is on the scientific advisory board of Hintsa Performance, and has a research appointment at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. Tommy researches novel therapies for neuroprotection, as well as ways to integrate modern technology with functional and ancestral approaches to health in order to optimise performance.