Folate Processing

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

4/10 confidence.

About Folate Processing

Folate from food arrives largely in a form the body can use directly. Synthetic folic acid, the kind added to fortified flour and most supplements, does not: it has to be converted first, and the enzyme DHFR does that conversion. Human DHFR is unusually slow at it compared with other species, so the step can bottleneck at high folic acid intakes. This position sits in the gene's control region and shifts how much enzyme is produced.

Good to know: Synthetic folic acid needs converting; folate from food largely does not. Human DHFR is unusually slow at this conversion compared with other species. The effect shows up mainly at high folic acid intakes, not ordinary ones.

Fun fact: Human DHFR converts folic acid so slowly compared with rat DHFR that the difference was a genuine surprise when it was first measured.

Discovery: This promoter variant and its effect on DHFR output were described in the 2000s.

The Variant

The single variant behind this trait

Gene: DHFR

Variant (rsID): rs1650697

Location: Chr 5:80,654,962

dbSNP rs1650697

Other lifestyle traits

Vitamin B6 Levels: A variant that sets how quickly your body clears vitamin B6 from the blood, and so how much of it circulates at any given intake.

Long-Chain Fat Burning: A change in one of the fat-burning enzymes inside mitochondria, linked to the level of a particular part-processed fat that shows up in blood.

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

Back to All Traits

Content updated September 2026.

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