this is really cool idea. i guess the site ideas run in family.

Then you may like this article: Navigenics, 23andMe and Helix Health: The Review

http://tinyurl.com/ynqnb5

I was thinking the same thing: Uma Thurman and then Gattaca.

I think this might induce unfair predispositions in life and possibly lead to self-fulfilling prophecies. It takes the mystery out of life. I’m concerned somewhat, too, but it’s hard to argue with preventive care.

Maybe I’m looking at this from another angle. One of my good friends was adopted. She doesn’t know who her biological parents are. She has no idea of her biological family history. A few months ago she had a scare with a routine test. Thankfully the other tests showed that everything was fine. But the fact that she has no clue about what she could be open to getting down the road. Has been bugging her. She’s only in her 20s, so she has a long road a head of her.

This test would help her find out what to watch out for. It could be a map for her. But by no means a guide to how to live her life.

wow, you really want to know what diseases are you likely to have in the future? I don’t think so, it’s a softer version of knowing when you’re going to die. If you know you are likely to suffer from cancer, this will drive you paranoid about what you can eat, where you can’t stay because of the smoke, and a looong etc…

Holy ignorance….

there are already people doing this so really sorry to burst your “I love all things google or facebook ” concept.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7098998.stm

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Wow! The first thing I thought of when I started reading your article was Gattaca. That movie, although not extremely popular unfortunately, had a massive impact on people’s concerns where this sort of technology is going.

What alarms me is that currently it is just used for you to find out what problems you may have due to your genes. But it won’t be long until the technology is used to create more ‘perfect’ humans.

It’s freaky.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7053863.stm

Some firms are also using this model to trace the ancestry of a person.

Most non-adopted people should be able to deduce from their family’s history what illnesses are common. One wonders by the bad eating habits and the chances that some people take when driving, if they really want to live to get old.

How many people get regular check-ups - even heavy smokers don’t?

wow, a whole lot of fear mongering, reminds me of the way Bush and his gang used terror for his agenda. Seriously people, stop worrying about dying and focus on living.

Go to their website, and it states “…9.4 out of 100 people with European ethnicity will get type 2 diabeties between the ages of 40 and 59…”
Yeah, well that is great and dandy but the major reason for Type 2 Diabeties is obesity, and that is independant of the genes.

Many others are already doing similar things - DeCode Genetics is just one of the companies - far ahead - in fact publicly traded. DCGN - NASDAQ.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=DCGN

A recent article in Forbes on the same subject -
http://blogs.forbes.com/scienc.....ecode.html

Gattaca is a great, under-rated movie, and don’t forget Jude Law, whose performance was the best. Anyway, IMHO this company’s business model is a fraud, there is not yet enough data available to provide a useful report; it’s just probabilities, which are vague and don’t mean anything. You might as well go to a fortune teller.

Just wondering why Google has invested that much money on matrix like things- Bringing science fiction into reality.

Only a matter of time before health insurance companies start requiring your DNA results. This is just the beginning…

We have 46 chromosomes. But I guess 46andMe does not rhyme very well so they went for the 23 chromosome PAIRS.

“…forty six and two, just ahead of me…” - Tool

Hope this info does not reach the insurance company.

“this is really cool idea.”

I agree. I bet it wasn’t cheap to start up either.

Well it is party funded by Sergey Brin! Cofounder of Google!

http://www.techfiends.com

I would get life insurance soon. Because insurance companies might make people take these tests. Even at a cost of $1000 it will still help the insurance companies make money.

first-person account

That link does not work.

Come on.

Hey Duncan

Can you touch on who actually OWNS the data once it is collected. 23andme is obviously subsidizing the cost of the test (a test like this normally costs upwards of $10,000) - I can’t imagine they are doing this for the benefit of society. Is the data portable, can it be taken off the site, what format is used, etc. These are important questions that should explored to further qualify the business plan.

Furthermore, what is the error percentage - no test is perfect, and their methodology is not clear beyond “using a chip” - since there is no way to confirm results (no third party to perform a second test) - it is possible that a screw up will never be detected and someone can go their entire lives worried about something that will never really pan out.

$999 is an attractive price point - to a billionaire - I am well off, but I don’t think I would pay that much - until the price comes down to around $100 this will not be mainstream. Most of the interesting science (for example, discovering a subset of the population that is immune to certain diseases and using that discovery to create medicines around the proteins coded for by that gene) require super large, even universal adoption of the technology.

I hope you are aware that 23andme is hardly the only company in this space. Navigenics, which is aligned with Affymetrix, the dominant microarray provider has already announced its offering (23andme is aligned with rival Illumina). DeCode, a pioneer in this field, has also announced a similar service. There are some smaller players as well.

Don’t forget the genographic project as well. For genealogy, it’s been around for a while, without the cool web services model

In other words, don’t look at 23andme in a vacuum.

Sebastian … your genotype tells you abour your propensity to get a disease. Whether you get it or not is governed by other factors.

This space is going to come under scrutiny though. Is your data portable from one provider to the other? Who owns it? Does HIPAA apply, etc etc.

“$999 is an attractive price point - to a billionaire - I am well off, but I don’t think I would pay that much -”

This is just a random one and I know there are cheaper ones, but people pay $399 or more for online STD lab testing. It’s been done for a few years now. This is one from AZ.
http://shop.alltestsonline.com.....ry_Code=ID

Of course it’s way cheaper just to go to the clinic, but apparently some people are paranoid and would rather pay. I’m sure this generic test can also be done cheaper by govt subsidizing clinics, but again, some people would rather do everything in secrecy.

I’m sure it will be hugely successful. The same types of people that would want these tests are the same that can easily pay $999.

The moral depravity of man will ensure that the results are used to harm people in the long run.

“I’m not suggesting that Google is about to commence an index of the planet’s DNA…”

Ok, I will!

Duncan Riley, this is the best story you have written since your tenure at Techcrunch. I applaud you.

3.9 million for access to your dna history.. not a bad investment.

Ok, imagine for a second that you combine this with data from facebook.com.

at some point you would start to recieve ads for pain medication, insurance plans specifically targeted to you. wow this gets interesteing.

“no one really knows why Google invested in the company aside from Brin’s marital relationship.”

As if that’s not a good enough reason. The guy just had a jumbo jet purchased a year or so ago.

http://searchengineland.com/070913-075208.php
“The money quote from Eric Schmidt, who served as referee: “Sergey, you can have whatever bed you want in your room; Larry, you can have whatever kind of bed you want in your bedroom. Let’s move on.”"

I’m sure 4 million wasn’t a problem for him at the board meeting. “does anybody dare to vote against this resolution?” me thinks.

I’m with others that will wait for the price to come down.

For another $1,000 you can get the Google Mini. Might not tell you that someday you could get cancer, but it will index 50,000 documents about cancer or whatever topic of interest.

We already do this at employment screenings and rate it to insurance scales.

“For another $1,000 you can get the Google Mini. Might not tell you that someday you could get cancer, but it will index 50,000 documents about cancer or whatever topic of interest.”

That’s pathetic. Not you wanting one, the cost/work of the mini. Plus from my understanding it’s all binaries based on the GNU licensed kernel with no sources available. Sorry for the interjection.

Learn about the disease I may possibly die from. Oh I can’t wait. Why would you want to limit your dreams? Everyone is aware that they could die from any number of consequences. Of what use is to me to know that I might get Cancer when I am 40?

The other part that made me laugh was that here is a seemingly professional company putting a price tag of $999 on their service. Just say $1000 we are not idiots.

So, this was thought up over a dinner the Brins had with Craig Venter? “If only there was a way to commodify DNA analysis…”

“Wow, you really want to know what diseases are you likely to have in the future? I don’t think so, it’s a softer version of knowing when you’re going to die. If you know you are likely to suffer from cancer, this will drive you paranoid about what you can eat, where you can’t stay because of the smoke, and a looong etc…”

Why do you think doctors ask for you family history? Do you refuse to answer those questions? It’s useful information for doctors and patients to know to help diagnose and prevent illnesses. This is just a (potentially) more accurate method to determine what you are susceptible to.

“I would get life insurance soon. Because insurance companies might make people take these tests. Even at a cost of $1000 it will still help the insurance companies make money.”

Unless of course you have “good” genes, in which case your insurance rates go down.

ridiculous, is the short response …. the human genome project, to find the fundamental building blocks, etc, has only found a bunch of questions, with maybe the supposition starting to form that maybe they aren’t so deep into physical reality as they thought…. i.e they are still playing around in the land of effect, and are a loooong way from cause…

now, who but the neurotic would… no, i won’t say that… it is just that the entire service that 23anMe is offering is useless except as a sort of kirlian photograph taken at some psychic fair, or a whole body cat scan from some traveling barker…

now, about that back-door the government has had into google for quite some time now… this fits nicely with that…\

science is the new religion, i know, but this is… back to the top

23andme has actually launched already. I just checked their website and you can already order. I am soooo tempted! I am really excited about 23andme. It sounds like they have a lot of cool ancestry tools and other fun stuff. And having the ability to check my SNPs whenever a new association study comes out would be great. Navigenics seems more focused on disease, and is set to cost $2500!

I would not call Affymetrix “the dominant microarray provider” — Illumina’s market cap is currently almost twice that of Affymetrix. Good for Illumina! Their technology is much better, and the competition is forcing Affymetrix to remedy some design problems that should have been fixed long ago. deCODEme is also using Illumina.

Read the TOS - some interesting things to keep in mind:

“Your saliva, once submitted to and analyzed by us, becomes our property. Any genetic information derived from your saliva remains your information. We retain the rights set forth in the consent form and any additional terms of service.”

Property vs. information - interesting legal minutia but basically means they own you - If they own the saliva, they own any further “art” of the saliva - including the genetic and source phenotype information.

“You agree that this license includes a right for 23andMe to make such content available to other companies, organizations, or individuals with whom 23andMe has relationships, and to use such content in connection with the provision of those services.”

Uh-oh

http://www.indianweb2.com/ this site is a complete rip off of techcrunch… down to the placement of ads even lol

“I’m sure we all want to know what diseases we might end up with in the future,”

Obviously, you haven’t had this happen to you personally.

I was diagnosed with a genetic issue when I was in my mid thirties, after my three kids were born. Unfortunately, genetic issues are not always a simple you have it or you don’t situation. They can result from multiple genes interacting to cause a whole range of severities. We do not yet know enough to assign probabilities to these ranges. It makes for some VERY difficult choices when it comes time to decide if you want to have a family.

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Where in the world do I sign up?

Really useful app.

I am very interested in these services and was very close to signing up for deCODEme yesterday until I had a thought that hadn’t occured to me before.

What is the tradeoff between helpful information gained, and the anxiety that it will bring regarding one’s future health? I actually hesitated and stopped the ordering process because I realized this has the potential to give you information that would change your life forever (duh).

I’m not sure I want that kind of information.

speaking of taking every living day as a gift rather than a right, reminds me I need to get off this computer and out into the real world…. later

GeneRank? Googleugenics?

Someone invoke Godwin’s law, please…

I just signed up. $1009 with 3 day delivery.

In 100 years time, people will be reasonably able to 500. I’m with Ray Kurzweil on this. (my girlfriend thinks I’m nuts however)

Power to the Google family for having the vision to bring this kind of test to the masses. I want to know whatever information may be unravelable from my DNA. Results will be posted on my personal blog, seasonalparadise.com.

Biotechnologies and the internet will eventually join and we will probably google people looking for their genetic info. Human beings are considered just another information system, forgetting that the informational level is just one of the many levels (or “bodies”) we have as human beings. But it’s too easy to consider the map as the territory. thinking that we are our genes. A couple of months before I wrote a post about this on http://www.indranet.org/biotec.....on-system/

There will be strong points in favor and against this test. It is and always has been a concern with personal information gathering. As usual, the test can be used for extremely useful information for doctor/patient decisions; and it can be grossly misused. It’s failure/success rating will depend on who is governing the test and information. It’s too early for me to speculate.

What I hope can is that the medical community will be able to use the information to guide a person to better health and quality of life by avoiding genetic pitfalls. As well this can greatly reduce the cost of medical care and insurance paid.

Of course, my ideas are intended for a perfect world, and I know we’re not there. I’d like to see this test routine so that everyone knows how to focus their habits.

David

regarding the suggestion that Google will commence an index of all DNA on teh planet. They’ve already said they intend to do this - it was reported in The Google Story by David Viser and they received a “captain Hook Award for Biopiracy” for these plans from a coalition of civil society watchdogs and indiginous groups…

more info here

http://www.captainhookawards.o.....006/google

I can foresee Google’s GeneAds coming to a gPhone near you in 2010…

I just signed up too, and bought two as gifts for my parents. $1000 a pop is a bit painful, but there has been a lot of publicity (front page of the nyt), so I wanted to get my order in early to make sure I get it by christmas. I can’t wait to get my results back!