Rapid innovation in DNA testing methods is creating exciting opportunities for spas when it comes to prescribing everything from exercise to diet and treatments.
In the last issue of Spa Business, we examined Nobel Prize-winning research into telomere testing which is enabling spas to prescribe lifestyle change and prove its efficacy (see sb13/1 p54).
In this issue, we go on to examine the use of DNA testing in enabling exercise scientists to identify the existence of non-responders – people who fail to gain the expected benefits from physical activity due to their physiological make-up (see page 82). In fact it appears there are rare instances of people who actually experience a deterioration in fitness as a result of exercise.
The important message to emerge from this research is not that exercise is a waste of time for non-responders, but that it must be prescribed very carefully in these cases, because the areas of ‘non-response’ are typically very specific and non-responders can expect to experience positive change in other areas of fitness.
DNA tests today can be done from a mouth swab in just half an hour and at a very reasonable cost, putting them within reach of spas as a diagnostic tool and meaning that it will be possible in future to customise a wide variety of different parts of the spa experience.
Evolution makes us different from each other to ensure we don’t all succumb to the same threat, so treating everyone in exactly the same way is a crude way to operate. Objective knowledge of our fundamental differences enables all interventions to be far more effective.
But it’s important the industry is highly credible in the use of things like DNA and telomere tests – it’s not acceptable for them to be used simply to sell products and packages without any scientific basis for test result analysis. Such activity would undermine our credibility as an industry at a time when we’re seeking to build a reputation for provable outcomes and sound science.
There are also big issues surrounding the storing and security of DNA, with experts predicting DNA hacking will be part of a new wave of bio crime.
So before we even think about taking DNA samples, we need to ensure we have people trained to deal with it, protocols for the storage and destruction of DNA samples we take from clients and most importantly, that we have the knowledge, skill and training to be able to accurately analyse what we find and give sound advice.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
Ask an expert: Cancer
The number of cancer sufferers and survivors is growing. How can spas cater for them? Kath Hudson reports
Interview: Neil Jacobs
Six Senses’ new CEO reveals the group’s spa strategy and development plans
Profile: Anna Bjurstam
The new vice president of spa and wellness at Six Senses will oversee 28 facilities worldwide
Hotel spa: Palace pampering
A E100m refurbishment of Paris’ Hôtel Le Bristol attracted footballer David Beckham for a six month-long stay. Julie Cramer pays a visit to its new Spa Le Bristol by La Prairie which is becoming a healthy profit centre
Promotional feature: Design consulting
Implementing a great spa design takes inspiration, patience and discipline, according to Cary Collier, principal of Blu Spas, WTS' strategic partner. In the third of our WTS series, he shares his design philosophy with Spa Business
Research: India's wellness consumers
Leonor Stanton analyses PwC’s latest research profiling Indian wellness consumers – an industry projected to be worth US$18bn in four years’ time
Thermal spa: Hot spot
The Banjaran is Malaysia’s first and only hot springs retreat. Jennifer Harbottle examines the growth strategy
Company profile promotion: QMS Medicosmetics
QMS Medicosmetics' revolutionary skincare system was created by a trauma surgeon from Germany. Here, the company's managing partner explains how the products' unique ingredients and actions are delivering exceptional results in spas worldwide
Hotel spa: Making a debut
Steigenberger Hotels has introduced a flagship spa concept in Frankfurt. Sophie Benge reports
Resort spa: Botanical beauty
The new Spa Botánico at Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve is set in five acres of ‘purification gardens’ and has a plant and herb apothecary
Product news: Product news
Product editor, Kate Corney highlights the latest product and equipment launches from the Spa Business search engine, Spa-Kit.net
Contrast therapy, based on the alternation of hot and cold rituals, has become one of the
most valued practices in the fields of wellness and recovery. [more...]
Rapid innovation in DNA testing methods is creating exciting opportunities for spas when it comes to prescribing everything from exercise to diet and treatments.
In the last issue of Spa Business, we examined Nobel Prize-winning research into telomere testing which is enabling spas to prescribe lifestyle change and prove its efficacy (see sb13/1 p54).
In this issue, we go on to examine the use of DNA testing in enabling exercise scientists to identify the existence of non-responders – people who fail to gain the expected benefits from physical activity due to their physiological make-up (see page 82). In fact it appears there are rare instances of people who actually experience a deterioration in fitness as a result of exercise.
The important message to emerge from this research is not that exercise is a waste of time for non-responders, but that it must be prescribed very carefully in these cases, because the areas of ‘non-response’ are typically very specific and non-responders can expect to experience positive change in other areas of fitness.
DNA tests today can be done from a mouth swab in just half an hour and at a very reasonable cost, putting them within reach of spas as a diagnostic tool and meaning that it will be possible in future to customise a wide variety of different parts of the spa experience.
Evolution makes us different from each other to ensure we don’t all succumb to the same threat, so treating everyone in exactly the same way is a crude way to operate. Objective knowledge of our fundamental differences enables all interventions to be far more effective.
But it’s important the industry is highly credible in the use of things like DNA and telomere tests – it’s not acceptable for them to be used simply to sell products and packages without any scientific basis for test result analysis. Such activity would undermine our credibility as an industry at a time when we’re seeking to build a reputation for provable outcomes and sound science.
There are also big issues surrounding the storing and security of DNA, with experts predicting DNA hacking will be part of a new wave of bio crime.
So before we even think about taking DNA samples, we need to ensure we have people trained to deal with it, protocols for the storage and destruction of DNA samples we take from clients and most importantly, that we have the knowledge, skill and training to be able to accurately analyse what we find and give sound advice.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
Ask an expert: Cancer
The number of cancer sufferers and survivors is growing. How can spas cater for them? Kath Hudson reports
Interview: Neil Jacobs
Six Senses’ new CEO reveals the group’s spa strategy and development plans
Profile: Anna Bjurstam
The new vice president of spa and wellness at Six Senses will oversee 28 facilities worldwide
Hotel spa: Palace pampering
A E100m refurbishment of Paris’ Hôtel Le Bristol attracted footballer David Beckham for a six month-long stay. Julie Cramer pays a visit to its new Spa Le Bristol by La Prairie which is becoming a healthy profit centre
Promotional feature: Design consulting
Implementing a great spa design takes inspiration, patience and discipline, according to Cary Collier, principal of Blu Spas, WTS' strategic partner. In the third of our WTS series, he shares his design philosophy with Spa Business
Research: India's wellness consumers
Leonor Stanton analyses PwC’s latest research profiling Indian wellness consumers – an industry projected to be worth US$18bn in four years’ time
Thermal spa: Hot spot
The Banjaran is Malaysia’s first and only hot springs retreat. Jennifer Harbottle examines the growth strategy
Company profile promotion: QMS Medicosmetics
QMS Medicosmetics' revolutionary skincare system was created by a trauma surgeon from Germany. Here, the company's managing partner explains how the products' unique ingredients and actions are delivering exceptional results in spas worldwide
Hotel spa: Making a debut
Steigenberger Hotels has introduced a flagship spa concept in Frankfurt. Sophie Benge reports
Resort spa: Botanical beauty
The new Spa Botánico at Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve is set in five acres of ‘purification gardens’ and has a plant and herb apothecary
Product news: Product news
Product editor, Kate Corney highlights the latest product and equipment launches from the Spa Business search engine, Spa-Kit.net
Private hotel owner and developer HVL Hotels will open a new luxury resort and tourism
destination called Laval Hunter Valley in the second half of 2027 in Pokolbin, Australia.
The annual wellness festival dedicated to wellbeing, culture, longevity and human connection,
called Alma, will be hosted by Rocco Forte hotel, Verdura Resort in Sicily, Italy.
Capella Hotel Group has appointed Feisal Jaffer as chief development officer as the company
ramps up its global expansion of both its Capella and Patina brands.
People taking GLP-1 weight loss medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound
may be losing weight, but they’re also becoming less physically active, according to new
research presented at the ENDO 2026 annual meeting of the Endocrine Society
Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Mubadala Capital has made a binding, fully financed
€1 billion
offer to acquire Pierre and Vacances SA, the European holiday resort operator behind the
continental European Center Parcs business.
Global retreat trade show, Synergy The Retreat Show, has launched a resource called The
Source, which hosts an open-access online Transformation Series programme.
The Standards Authority for Touch in Cancer Care (SATCC) charity has announced its first five-
day Living with Cancer and Beyond retreat, which will be held at Carden Park Hotel and Spa in
Cheshire, UK, between 1 and 5 September.
Patmos Aktis, a Luxury Collection Resort and Spa, has opened in Greece, with a renovated and
rebranded wellness offering called Ansana Wellness and Spa.
Contrast therapy, based on the alternation of hot and cold rituals, has become one of the
most valued practices in the fields of wellness and recovery. [more...]
