ReadYourDNA

Long-Chain Fat Burning

Your result, the one DNA position behind it, and what the research says.

5/10 confidence.

About Long-Chain Fat Burning

Fats are burned inside mitochondria in a chain of steps, each handled by an enzyme tuned to a particular fat length. This variant swaps one building block of ACADL, and people who carry it have consistently higher blood levels of one part-processed fat, nonanoylcarnitine, across many separate studies. What that means is less settled than the gene's name suggests: in humans the ACADL protein is barely detectable in the tissues that burn fat, and a closely related enzyme does most of the long-chain work, so the raised marker is a reliable observation without an agreed mechanism behind it.

Good to know: Fats are burned by a chain of enzymes, each tuned to a different fat length. What this variant changes is a blood measurement, and the mechanism behind it is not settled. Many enzymes act in sequence, so a single slower step is rarely decisive.

Fun fact: Mitochondria strip fats two carbon atoms at a time, so a sixteen-carbon fat goes round the same cycle seven times before it is fully burned.

Discovery: The K333Q change was linked to blood acylcarnitine profiles in genome-wide studies of metabolites.

The Variant

The single variant behind this trait

Gene: ACADL

Variant (rsID): rs2286963

Location: Chr 2:210,195,326

dbSNP rs2286963

The studies

SNPs affecting serum metabolomic traits may regulate gene transcription and lipid accumulation in the liver (Mirkov S et al., Metabolism: clinical and experimental, 2012)

Other lifestyle traits

Beta-Carotene Conversion: Two changes in the enzyme that converts beta-carotene from plants into vitamin A, which together cut its activity substantially.

Carotenoid Levels: A change in the master regulator of fat cells, linked to how much provitamin A carotenoid is stored in fat tissue.

Calcium Levels: A change on chromosome 3 linked to the level of calcium circulating in blood.

Back to All Traits

Content updated September 2026.

ReadYourDNA provides educational interpretation of DNA data you already have. It is not diagnostic, not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Talk to a clinician before acting on any result.

Raw DNA Data Reports for 23andMe & AncestryDNA · About ReadYourDNA · FAQ · Methodology & Science · Pricing · Support and complaints · Legal & Contact · Health Traits · Pharmacogenomics · Carrier Status · Variant Explorer · The Human Karyotype · Privacy Policy · Terms of Service · Accessibility · Consumer Health Data Privacy · Your Privacy Choices · Editorial Standards · Your Data, Checkable · Sample Report · ReadYourDNA and Promethease compared · What is inside a 23andMe raw data file · What is inside an AncestryDNA raw data file · What a chatbot can and cannot do with your raw DNA file · Where a raw DNA file can still be uploaded in 2026

Written, maintained and operated by Martin Pechhacker, sole proprietor, Vienna, Austria. Trade register GISA 40064420. support@readyourdna.com