Mr. Rahul Ranganathan, Chief Executive Officer at NuGenomics, explains the concept of genetic testing and how it helps people make better health decisions based on their own biology.
India has witnessed a huge transformation over the years in how diagnoses and treatments for various diseases are made. In recent years, with the advancement in technology, the advent of artificial intelligence, and advances in genomics, the health scenario has transformed to a different level in terms of diagnosis, prevention and management. A wide opportunity has opened up in terms of genomics-led interventions when it comes to wellness as well as chronic disease management.
So, how genomics and genetic testing can help people to understand their bodies, delve into the root causes, and come up with meaningful and affordable solutions are a few points shared by Mr. Rahul Ranganathan, Chief Executive Officer at NuGenomics, in his recent interaction with IndiaMedToday.
1. Why do over 70% of Indians fail to see lasting results from generic diets, fitness plans and supplements? What is wrong with one-size-fits-all advice for Indian bodies?
I would be careful about using the 70% figure unless it comes from a specific study, but the larger point is absolutely valid: people respond very differently to the same diet or fitness programme. We often assume that if a plan worked for one person, it should work for everyone. But two people can eat the same meal and have completely different blood-sugar responses. The same calorie deficit may help one person lose weight while leaving another constantly hungry, tired or losing muscle. Even exercise response and recovery can vary significantly.
This matters even more in India. Many Indians develop diabetes, fatty liver and cardiovascular risk at a lower body weight than Western populations. Someone may not look visibly overweight but may still have high visceral fat, low muscle mass or significant insulin resistance.
So the problem with one-size-fits-all advice is not that the basics are wrong. Eating well, moving regularly and sleeping properly will always matter. The problem is that different people need different priorities.
Genomics helps us understand where someone may be more vulnerable and where their effort is likely to have the greatest impact. It reduces trial and error. It does not replace common sense; it makes common-sense advice more personal.
2. You analyse more than 500 genetic markers. Which markers are most critical for understanding metabolism, insulin sensitivity, hormonal balance and biological age?
There is no single “weight-loss gene”, “diabetes gene” or “ageing gene”. Human biology is much more complex than that.
For metabolism and insulin sensitivity, we study pathways involved in insulin production, glucose sensing, how muscles use glucose and how the liver releases glucose. Genes such as TCF7L2, MTNR1B, KCNJ11, GCK, and PPARG are among those that have been widely studied.
For weight regulation, we look at appetite, satiety, fat storage, energy expenditure and exercise response. This may include genes such as FTO, MC4R, ADRB2, ADRB3, APOA5, LPL and CETP.
Hormonal balance is even more contextual. We may look at pathways involving insulin, ovarian function, sex hormones, thyroid function and inflammation. But these findings have to be interpreted alongside symptoms, menstrual history, medications and blood tests.
For healthy ageing, we look at pathways linked to DNA repair, inflammation, oxidative stress, cardiovascular health, brain health and metabolic resilience. Genes such as FOXO3, APOE and SOD2 may contribute to that picture.
The important point is that we do not interpret these markers in isolation. One variant rarely tells us enough. We combine multiple markers into biological pathways and then interpret those pathways in the context of the person.
3. You report outcomes such as 6.4 kg average weight loss, HbA1c falling from 8.5% to 6.2%, and a 2.5-year reduction in biological age. How do you prove these are statistically valid and not cherry-picked success stories?
The strongest proof is not one success story—it is the published research behind the approach.
NuGenomics has published multiple papers on personalised nutrigenetic diets, weight loss, nutritional prediction and insulin resistance in Indian populations. One of these studies specifically evaluated weight-loss outcomes from a personalised nutrigenetic programme across an Indian cohort (Duraimani SL, Sati B, Ghori JAK, Selvanathan A, Saikia K, Lote I, Ahluwalia G, Gosar H, Dharmaraj S, Bhatt D, Kocharekar A, Salat R, Ramesh A, Balamurali AR, Ranganathan R. Unlocking weight loss potential: investigating the impact of personalized nutrigenetic-based diet in an Indian population. AIMS Molecular Science. 2024;11(1):21-41. doi:10.3934/molsci.2024002).
The HbA1c reduction from 8.5% to 6.2% is an individual case. We have seen other exceptional cases, including a reduction from 10.8% to 6.4%, but we recognise that these are standout outcomes. Individual cases show what is possible. Our publications show whether the approach works across a wider group. That is where the real evidence lies.
4. Is NuGenomics a diagnostics company, a wellness brand or something entirely new?
We are a precision health company. We sit somewhere between diagnostics, preventive healthcare and personalized intervention. A diagnostics company usually tells you what your numbers are. A wellness company usually gives you advice on what to eat, how to exercise or what habits to change.
NuGenomics connects the two.
We combine information such as genetics, blood biomarkers, health history and lifestyle patterns to understand both a person’s underlying predispositions and what is happening in their body today. We then translate that information into clear priorities and personalised actions.
Over time, we also want to include more longitudinal data from wearables, glucose monitors and other health devices. That will help us understand not just a person’s starting point, but how their health is changing.
So, we describe NuGenomics as a precision-health intelligence and intervention company. We are not simply selling a test or a diet plan. We are building a system that helps people make better health decisions based on their own biology.
5. What specific Indian genetic or metabolic patterns do global diet and fitness plans ignore?
The first thing to recognize is that India itself is extremely diverse. There is no single Indian body type or Indian genome. However, there are some patterns seen more commonly across South Asian populations that global programmes often fail to account for.
Indians can develop insulin resistance, diabetes and heart risk at a lower BMI than many Western populations. Someone may appear relatively slim but still have more abdominal or liver fat and less protective muscle mass. So simply telling someone to “lose weight” may miss the actual problem.
Many Indian diets are also carbohydrate-heavy, while protein intake can be low, particularly in vegetarian households. This can affect blood-sugar control, muscle health, appetite and recovery.
We also see frequent concerns around vitamin B12, vitamin D, fatty liver, high triglycerides and, in some people, elevated lipoprotein(a). These factors are not always properly addressed in generic international diet plans.
At a genetic level, the frequency and impact of variants linked to diabetes, lipid metabolism, fatty liver, nutrient handling and medication response can differ between populations. This is why models built mainly on European ancestry data cannot always be applied directly to Indians.
When we say “built in India for Indian bodies”, we do not mean putting an Indian meal image on a Western report. We mean building interpretations and recommendations around Indian population evidence, Indian dietary habits and Indian healthcare realities.
6. How many of the 15,000-plus people you have served are from tier-2 and tier-3 cities?
Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi are currently our largest markets, but our reach goes far beyond the metros. Through corporate programmes and collection partnerships, we have collected samples across the country and can serve more than 9,000 pin codes.
Reaching tier-2 and tier-3 India is central to our strategy. Home-based sample collection, remote consultations and affordable entry products are designed to make precision health accessible without depending on premium clinics in major cities.
7. What made it possible to offer genetic wellness testing at ₹999, and is it really affordable for a middle-class Indian family?
The first clarification is that ₹999 is an entry-level or effective per-test price available through selected bundles. It is not the price of every comprehensive genomic investigation. The price reduction has been made possible by several changes.
The cost of generating genetic data has fallen significantly over the years. We can now process samples in larger batches, automate parts of bioinformatics and reporting, and reduce repetitive manual work.
We have also built a model in which one genetic sample can support multiple reports over time. Your DNA does not change, so you should not need to provide a new sample every time you want to explore a different wellness area. Subject to consent and scientific relevance, the same dataset can support insights relating to weight, diabetes, fitness, healthy ageing and other areas.
Home collection, digital reports, direct distribution and negotiated laboratory partnerships also help reduce costs.
For many middle-class families, ₹999 is far more approachable than a ₹30,000 test, but we recognise that affordability means different things to different people. Our objective is not to make genomic testing cheap at the cost of quality. It is to remove unnecessary cost so that personalised health does not remain restricted to a small premium audience.
8. How does NuGenomics protect genomic data and prevent it from being shared with employers, insurers or other third parties?
Genomic data deserves a very high level of protection because it is deeply personal.
The first layer is consent. A user should know what sample is being collected, what it will be analysed for, how the information will be used and whether any future use will require additional permission.
The next layer is technical and operational security. Wherever possible, identity information and genomic-analysis data are separated and connected through controlled identifiers. Access is limited according to a person’s role, and only those who need information for a legitimate purpose should be able to access it.
Our security framework covers access control, protected data transmission and storage, logging, backups, vendor security, incident management and regular risk assessment.
For employer programmes, the employer should not receive an employee’s individual genetic report simply because the company funded the programme. Employers should receive only aggregated or de-identified workforce insights, unless the employee has personally and explicitly authorised individual sharing.
The same principle applies to insurers. We do not support genetic information being used to discriminate against people, influence employment eligibility or penalise them for risks they were born with.
Privacy cannot depend only on a long consent form. It must be built into the technology, contracts, processes and culture of the organisation.
9. What are the three most harmful health trends promoted by wellness influencers, and how does genomics-based advice correct them?
The first is the belief that one extreme diet is the answer for everyone. This could be keto, carnivore, prolonged fasting or severe calorie restriction.
These approaches may help some people, but they may leave others exhausted, constantly hungry, losing muscle, experiencing hormonal disruption or seeing their parameters worsen. Genetics and metabolic data can help identify how a person may respond to carbohydrates, fats, appetite signals and exercise, but any recommendation still has to consider their blood results, medical history and medications.
The second is indiscriminate supplementation. People are often encouraged to take large combinations of vitamins, minerals and other products without checking whether they are deficient or whether the products interact with medication.
The third is the detox and elimination-diet culture. People remove gluten, dairy or multiple food groups without a clear reason, or follow prolonged cleanses that provide very little balanced nutrition.
A more responsible approach is to have a clear reason for any elimination, define how long it will last and measure whether it actually helped.
We should not make health advice more dramatic. It should make it more selective. Instead of recommending twenty changes, it should help identify the three or four changes most likely to matter.
10. How will precision genomics change treatment, insurance and preventive care over the next five to ten years?
For doctors, one of the biggest changes will be in medication selection.
People can process the same medicine differently because of genetic variation. One person may break a drug down too quickly, another too slowly, and another may have a greater risk of side effects. Pharmacogenomics can help doctors choose the right medicine or dose more efficiently, particularly in areas such as cardiology, psychiatry, cancer care and pain management.
Genomics may also help determine who should begin screening earlier. Someone with a higher inherited risk of diabetes, heart disease or certain cancers may benefit from earlier and more frequent monitoring.
This is both, an opportunity and a danger. The opportunity is to use precision health to support prevention, reduce complications and improve chronic-disease management. The danger is genetic discrimination. People should not be punished because they carry a risk they were born with. India will need very clear rules around who can request, access or use genomic data.
For families, genetic information may eventually become part of a lifelong preventive-health record. It may guide nutrition, screening, medication response, reproductive planning and the management of inherited risk.
However, the future of precision health should not be about frightening people with a list of diseases they might develop. It should be about giving them more time to act.
The real change will be moving from “Let us treat the disease once it appears” to “Let us understand this person’s vulnerabilities early and help them change the trajectory.”
