What health conditions does Embark test for?

We test for 230+ conditions, and that list continues to grow.

You can find our comprehensive list of genetic health tests here: Health Conditions.

Alternatively, to view the genetic health tests more relevant to your breed visit: Health Conditions by Breed

How does Embark select the conditions that we test for?

We spend a lot of time combing veterinary and genetic literature. In general, we select conditions for which (1) the variant—or variants—has been published and demonstrated to have a causal effect; (2) if not causal, the variant has been demonstrated to be strongly associated with disease risk in several populations of dogs; and (3) remain valid and pertinent to the affected breed(s). You can search for the conditions that are relevant to your dog’s breed here.

We understand that some genetic health risks are more of a priority to your breed than others. This is reflected in the way your dog's results and the OFA Submission Report are structured.

You can learn more about what makes a condition breed-relevant here: What makes a health condition “breed-relevant”?

Some of your health tests appear to be under patent. How can you offer these tests? Along with our comprehensive review of the literature, we stay current on existing patents and believe that our testing methodology does not violate current patents.

Why does another testing service offer a specific variant test, but you don’t?

Some variants have been noted, but not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal. Alternatively, some variants have been published, but have not been validated in-house or by other researchers. At Embark, we believe that scientific peer review and replicability are critical requirements and do not offer variant-based tests that lack either. We review the literature regularly to assess new publications. In general, each year, we update our testing platform to include tests for variants that have recently been published or validated. These tests will be visible on our website when available.

Embark also has a strict quality control process, and we validate each test against samples from known carrier and at-risk (hetero and homozygous) dogs. If there is a published variant test for your breed that is currently not offered by Embark, please contact us.