Availability of DNA tests
Nowadays, scientific articles do not often publish mutations that are also present in other breeds. Therefore, mutations that are described and validated in one breed can also be found in other breeds. The occurrence of these mutations in other breeds is determined by laboratories that carry out the tests. It is difficult to estimate how high the reliability is for a certain test for a particular breed.
The above basis applies in general to hereditary diseases. Hereditary diseases are passed on from one generation to another through defective genes. Nevertheless, inheritance of a disease remains a biological process, and therefore exceptions are still possible. The specific information for a test gives more information about possible deviations.
Our tests do not make recommendations on breeding decisions
Our DNA tests offer you insight into the composition of your animal’s DNA. If possible, we will try to inform you of the optimal choice of tests for your personal situation. You should be aware that our laboratories are not responsible for the breeding decisions that you take. This is due to the complexity of the variation in tests and breeds. We recommend that, for advice concerning breeding decisions, you contact your international or national breed association or vet.
Within a combination package, a single result for a DNA test may be missing from the report
It is possible that a low percentage of results may be missing if a combination package is requested this can be caused due to technical reasons. We consider a combination package ‘fully reported’ if only one or two of the markers within a combination package are missing after retesting. No refund will be provided for missing tests within a combination package.
Combination packages are not 100% complete
Our combination packages will never be 100% complete due to the large number of publications in the scientific literature. We update the packages twice a year, whereby we use the following criteria: a) changes to the breeds in which a DNA test has been validated, b) the type of disease and c) technical criteria.
There is never a fool-proof link between test results and disease symptoms
In general, our tests are based on scientific publications. In these articles, a disease or condition is described with detailed information about the symptoms and background of the DNA test. The test does not guarantee that the animal still has the possibility to develop symptoms. The symptoms can be caused due to unknown genetic mutations. However, after testing positive for a disease an animal will not always develop symptoms. We therefore recommend that you contact your local or international breed association, Management Board or vet for breeding or veterinary advice.