Google Cofounder Sergey Brin launched a personal blog today at too.blogspot.com.
In his first blog post, he explains the blog name: “Welcome to my personal blog. While Google is a play on googol, too is a play on the much smaller number - two. It also means “in addition”, as this blog reflects my life outside of work.”
In the second blog post, he gets a little more serious. He talks about how DNA startup 23andMe (cofounded by his wife Anne Wojcicki) has shown he has certain gene mutation that is tied to Parkinson’s Disease - G2019S. While the mutation is rare in people with Parksinson’s, in some ethnic groups it accounts for a substantial proportion of familial Parkinson’s. In other words, if you have it, there’s a good chance you’ll get Parkinson’s.
He says based on current available data he’s 20%-80% likely to get the disease. And he can now do something about it:
This leaves me in a rather unique position. I know early in my life something I am substantially predisposed to. I now have the opportunity to adjust my life to reduce those odds (e.g. there is evidence that exercise may be protective against Parkinson’s). I also have the opportunity to perform and support research into this disease long before it may affect me. And, regardless of my own health it can help my family members as well as others.
I feel fortunate to be in this position. Until the fountain of youth is discovered, all of us will have some conditions in our old age only we don’t know what they will be. I have a better guess than almost anyone else for what ills may be mine — and I have decades to prepare for it.
What a story! Best of luck to him and his foundation!
I certainly would not want to know what disease I will have in the future. I think it’s best to assume that you aren’t invincible and that any potential disease is possible. This test might lead to people thinking they aren’t prone to getting a specific disease and then their body changes. Your body doesn’t stay the same your whole life.
tinycrunch has a poll going on whether or not you would want to know those results. interestingly even results across the board.
this reminds me of something:
wasn’t MIKE ARRINGTON supposed to disclose the results of his 23&Me test last year? or at least the interesting parts.
Wow, he needs a designer. Call me Sergey.
I agree with S! He needs a new design for this blog— it reminds me of Cuil.com.
He dosn’t need crap from you or S!. He doesn’t need readers, ads, nothing. Give it up.
maybe he likes it like that? i certainly do. google knows he probably spends a lot of time on the web. blue on black is easy on my eyes. not presumptuous or arrogant–simple and functional.
Honey, he needs a hair stylist first!
Consider how difficult it would be for him to get health insurance knowing this information about his future. I guess he’ll never have to worry about medical expenses. It must be nice.
Probably why this information isn’t available to health insurance companies
Wow, 20-80% that’s high. Frankly, I don’t think I’d want to know - ignorance is bliss here.
That’s one of the biggest issues with this kind of testing. Everyone wants to know what’s going to kill them, until they find out that we don’t have the cure yet.
He has always been somewhat of a mystery. This is really great of him to expose intimate aspects of his life.
Of course, he will also share advances that he gets access to , thus helping many others
I guess when you’re that successful you need not worry about ‘design’. Nor the sight-impaired.
“He says based on current available data he’s 20%-80% likely to get the disease.” I think you may be mis-quoting here. After reading the post it could be interpreted as saying he is 20%-80% MORE LIKELY THAN THE AVERAGE PERSON the get the disease, which is then still a small probability no where close to 20%.
“Nonetheless it is clear that I have a markedly higher chance of developing Parkinson’s in my lifetime than the average person. In fact, it is somewhere between 20% to 80% depending on the study and how you measure.”
I read that as saying that his chance is indeed 20-80% in absolute terms, not 20-80% above average as you claim.
“the prevalence of the disease in individuals over 65 years of age is roughly 1%”
http://holisticonline.com/Reme.....o-gets.htm
So depending on your interpretation he is either 20%-80% likely to get the disease or 1.2%-1.8% likely, hopefully the latter.
This is of course referring to 20-80% MORE LIKELY. In general people wildly over estimate their chances of getting cancer or diseases like Parkinson’s (which my dad had). Most men are going to die of heart disease by far compared to anything else.
As to testing like this for Parkinson’s - it is nuts. There is nothing you can do, your chances of getting it are small, and you can’t pretend that this testing does not make people worry.
He knows what he is talking about, and so does his wife. Those are the ABSOLUTE odds not risk increase. 20 to 80% risk increase would not be that significant in the kind of studies (genome wide association studies) he is referring to.
It really could be taken either way. Hopefully he clarifies.
I don’t really think I’d want to know what my predispositions are. Scary stuff.
Even if you had the money to significantly fund research for a cure. Ignorance only means you lose your mind sooner.
I’d rather lose my mind than live my life in fear, I suppose.
How do you know it’s actually Sergey?
You realized this blog is on blogspot right. Hint: Google owns Blogspot / Blogger.
If it wasn’t Sergey, the account will not stay open for more than a day.
Hey Mike D, I’m Captain Obvious. Please develop your own schtick. With a name like that, you could riff on the Beastie Boys angle.
kthxbai.
Matt Cutts from Google confirmed the Blog!
First i think, is it a Fake-Blog?
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/.....ts-a-blog/
Greetings from Germany
NoodleGei
a real search engine would tell you an answer for all diseases. Until then they are just “guess engines”.
maybe he could start a billionaire foundation that requires all to give back and save millions from starvation, exposure and disease. or even better a redistribution of wealth foundation.
wealth in too few hands is the root to all the worlds problems.
A persons monetary wealth is only as good as what they do with it. Can only truly be measured by how much they give back. his prediction of disease means nothing compared to the reality of discourse around the globe.
a better blog would have been to discuss how google is going to pay its users to use there services. sooner or later they will demand it.
Share the Wealth Foundation.
MyLocator.com
“a real search engine would tell you an answer for all diseases”
~ your comments tell me you’re an idiot.
built a house especially for Mr genius with nothing to stand for. your comments tell me your probably a homo. come out of the closet queer. share yourself with the community. im sure we can find a cure for you. coward.
http://professionallocator.nin.....locatorcom
So, the mylocator dude is homophobic (that means prejudice against gays)? Keep talking the gay hate locator dude, that will win lots of friends in the tech community.
Nothing i do makes any sense. who knew?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMT7Deky9iY
I rest my case!
love is a many spendid things! people cry out for help in different ways. I am here to help.
MedicLocator.com
Frank sometimes we can only judge closet case comment haters by there hairdo, choice of words and self expression.
i have nothing against anybody, just closet case losers. i judge people by there character.
dont be offended, nothing personal.
SorryLocator.com
You’re a tool.
Well, one of the key success factors of google is the simple and intuitive design. But this could be perhaps too simple. But i think it is scalable!
Nice way to promote 23andme, i wonder if this idea come up during their “bed talk”
what you put your attention to is what grows in your life.
and genes tell very little about reality.
illness has so many “causes” beyond what the wife’s discounted tests can tell.
How do we know this is legit ?
Uh, it’s on the internet, duh.
what a bullshit blog post pfftt
OK went to his blog and closed that windows after seeing it. Let me know when he gets a simple & decent design for his blog :S
I will email just as soon as that happens. d@bag.com, right?
CTRL+A sort of inverts the colors on a Windows system
Yeah I hope he changes the design soon. To those people asking whether or not he really is Sergey, I don’t think too many people would have access to “too.blogspot.com!”
Yeah, well Rupert Murdoch grabbing Sergey’s baby fetus is really creepy.
See image at:
[hmm, tech crunch seems to not like links to New YORK's top selling newspaper website]
Take google’s might makes right ethos + your DNA + Rupert Murdoch’s O’Reilly Factor and you get: all life in the name commerce.
Nice.
To see the lovely picture of Murdoch and Sergey’s wife.
google: “spit Rupert Murdoch, Barry Diller, Anne Wojcicki and Diane von Furstenberg”
Don’t forget “spit”.
Is he moderating his comments? Maybe I’ll post my resume as a comment… and hey, no feedburner??? I think this guy needs to take a 101 in blog promotion.. my best advise - quality content, and try to get backlinks. This company, Google, really likes that you have backlinks. I wonder who came up with this idea??
Anyway, if I’m here, some promotion - visit ThetaNoon, it’s power by Google App Engine, and it tracks solar energy systems in real-time.
It’s fun.
“I think this guy needs to take a 101 in blog promotion” - why? This is a personal blog, why would he want to promote it? If he really wanted to make a succesfull well-visited blog, I think he would have.
Sounds like some great PR for 23andme…
he’s talking about Parkinson’s research, and most of you are critiquing his blog. you’re obviously not his audience, and some of the comments on here are ridiculous.
he’s been actively researching this for a while, and has submitted himself to further gene testing past 23andme. this isn’t a promotional effort, nor is this fake…it’s simply serious.
it’s his blog. i’ll repeat for the critics…it’s his blog. he is choosing to express himself and share deeply personal discoveries related to a particular illness that has already struck his family, be respectful.
i know this is the internet, but in some cases, if you don’t have anything constructive to say, which adds value. then, you really shouldn’t say anything at ALL.
i personally think this is a really great development, and is a reflection of how science and technology has already begun to change our culture and uniquely affect each of our lives.
if you’d like to help, you can donate to the Michael J. Fox foundation - http://www.michaeljfox.org
Tits or GTFO!
@Bruce Nice comment. You must not be a regular reader of TC, because these comments are typical. There are usually a handful of insightful, intelligent and worth reading comments and then a ton of scroll-right-pass comments.
And on the “i know this is the internet, but in some cases, if you don’t have anything constructive to say, which adds value. then, you really shouldn’t say anything at ALL.” This is TC where it’s sport to be snarky.
As for 23andme, I like what they’re doing and find it fascinating. I personally haven’t tried the service yet, but I do want to. I’d love to know what I’m predisposed to. Not to mention it’s an excellent service for people who are adopted and have no access or knowledge to their biological family’s health history.
When you’re armed with that kind of information you are better equipped to address the problem and/or prepare for situations where there is no cure, because even in those situations you always have choice in how to tackle the disease should you develop it.
I’m with Bruce. Most of the comments here are idiotic. I saw Sergey introduce the blog today and he is serious and funny and inspiring. He is at risk 20-80% of developing Parkinson’s, but I’d say Parkinson’s is at equal risk of being eradicated by his efforts. And I am rooting for him whether his blog is well designed or not.
blue text on black background… Urgh!!!
the web could use more sites designed with a black background. i’ve had just about enough of the cookie cutter blinding white backgrounds. i’m looking at you, too, google.
=)
True - he might turn into Bill Gates and want to use his new found wealth towards finding cures. Altho its a bit self centered to start with something you *might* get. Why not start with AIDS or Cancer?
I really hate to say this as it takes away from the spirit of things, but TechCrunch is really going to have to “audition” commentors the same way sites like Gawker operate. Personally, I think Gawker is one of the worst sites on the Internet, but the quality (lack thereof) of responses on this site has reached a new low. It’s getting to the point where reading the comments is a complete waste of time. Not to mention how negatively they reflect on the TC readership.
Would you please shut the fuck up? What did you expect on a post about Sergey’s blog that is completely unrelated to tech?
Internets is serious business!
You’re right, Tony. You didn’t prove my point at all. My mistake.
David,
Lighten up, relax, and life will treat you better. This is a blog post about someone’s personal blog launch. We’re you looking for inspired commentary. What did you contribute to the commentary? Humor? Insight? Ballache?
Instead of whining about comments, try adding something to the conversation yourself.
..the problem with 23andMe and outfits like it are the misleading results it conveys. Just because there is evidence of potential does not mean there is a likelihood. In Brin’s case, a 20-80% chnce of getting Parkinsons is quite a large spread healthwise, and inconclusive based on the limited data sampled from his DNA.
So at best, these DNA tests can expose the possibility of serious health issues and at worst, create unescessary hysteria for those who do not fully understand the limited usefulness of the data.
Being forewarned with knowledge about possible future health conditions means that the correct treatment can be initialised straight away, early symptoms that may be misdiagnosed will not be missed. As Sergey says he can take measures to lead a lifestyle that may stave of the disease. The subsequent research that arises from knowing that a condition is widespread is invaluable.
The point about earlier diagnosis is a good one– it sounds like his poor mother went through quite a long series of misdiagnoses before they finally established she has Parkinson’s.
Cheap (Read FREE) and ‘too’ much effective PR for Anne’s startup.
I hope forthcoming posts will be interesting. I deeply respect this genius.
What matters most is that Sergey and that he can’t. Otherwise, it is clearly obvious under which that can be seen clearly neither here nor there.
Frankly, I am not sure that we can not enter that which not opens inward. In either case, I’d like to ask the community how it is which not false entry but for nothing in particular.
Thanks.
You should be pummeled soundly for having written that.
I hope he’s the one that keeps writing it and not put some staff onto it and ruin the authenticity.
Great blog… hope to read it everyday
Its obvious why Sergey mentioned it. To help promote his wife’s company. He has sacrificed a bit of his privacy for the benefit of his wife’s company. Hopefully it won’t bite him in the ass, and Google’s share price.
That’s obvious
Furthermore 23&me told me I am 20%-80% likely to die hit by a car If I think too much of my 0%-5% chance to die of a heart attack when I cross the street
Great news
…and are people commenting on HIS blog post here because he’s not approving comments on his own blog? yawwwwnnnn….
Take care Sergey Brin, and best of luck in every aspect of your life. Cheers!
Most of you are really not understanding this.
1) There is a very small percentage of Parkinson’s sufferers who get it through a genetic, familial trait
2) FOR THOSE PEOPLE, if you have the gene marker, 20-80% WILL get Parkinsons. (Sadly this is more likely to be at the 80% end than the 20% end - just not enough data yet).
3) In other words, compared to the sub 1% rate in the general population, Sergei Brin has a 20-80% chance of developing Parkinsons. That is REALLY BAD.
Now to the stuff that wasn’t stated.
4) Parkinson’s has NO cure - none.
5) parkinson’s has very few treatments that are more than modestly successful and ALL those treatments are to alleviate symptoms - they DO NOT EXTEND LIFE
6) parkinson’s has proved to be a VERY hard disease to track down underlying cause and effect - it is not giong to be easy to find a cure.
7) In this case finding the genetic marker doesn’t help with the outcome - he can’t alter what will happen - but that doesn’t mean the overall idea is bad - if he had the genetic marker for some of the other bad hereditary diseases he could avoid having kids to spare them the certainty of dying before they turned 40.
he is just trying to raise money for the startup. dig it up and you will find it plenty
Wow learning something like this must really shake your foundation. The concept of knowing you are likely to eventually have a terrible disease is positive as you can do something about it but wow the news would probably rattle me. Interesting how technology is now helping people to change their futures.