January 01, 2025

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The Secrets in our Genes

One evening in 2014, Alice Syam was wandering through queueing crowds and lively stalls at an exhi- bition in Pune with her husband when an executive approached her. "He said that a woman of my size would greatly benefit from a unique health test they had to offer," she laughs. At 85 kgs, Alice was tall, well-built, and least worried about her weight or proportions. She was, however, bothered by persistent body ache, joint pain, irritable bowel syndrome, and a host of other health con- cerns that had plagued her over the years. Just a few months ago, she selfdiagnosed these as symptoms of gluten intolerance after reading an article on Novak Djokovic's experience with gluten sensitivity and celiac disease "At that time, the test proposed by the executive cost `17,000. I was wary of spending such a large amount on something that we didn't much know about. My husband however was intrigued and insisted I try it," Alice, now 66, says. She signed up and a few days later a medical team from the company visited their home to take her mouth swab samples.

"THE NEXT AIRCRAFT WILL CRASH ON LANDING"

The jet thundered down the runway, then lifted into the evening sky over Los Angeles. "That's odd," remarked Captain Tim Barnby, noticing that the wheels seemed to take longer than usual to retract. He scanned the instruments for indications of trouble. There were none: All the wheels were up and lockedWith no problems evident, Virgin Atlantic Flight 024, with 98 passengers and a crew of 16, set a course to London's Heathrow Airport. The flight was uneventful, and 11 hours later the redand-white Airbus 340 began to descend. Thanks to favourable tail winds, touch- down--at 3:05 p.m. on 5 November, 1997--would be a little earlyGraham and Janice Jones saw their daughter, Claire, 23, grin as she came down the aisle, smart in her flight attendant's uniform. She had invited her parents on a trip to California, and they were now returning home. "Dad," Claire said, "the captain wants to know if you'd like to sit in the cockpit for landing." "I'd love it!" he replied. Minutes later, Jones slid into a jump seat between Captain Barnby, 39, who was talking to air-traffic control on the radio, and Andrew Morley, 32, who was piloting the plane. The third pilot, Craig Mathieson, 28, who had relieved the others during the night, explained the landing