While I don\u00b4t know why Anne Wojciki\u00b4s called her new venture 23andMe and not 46andMe (as far as I know I have 46 chromosomes and also happened to be 46), I still think that 23andMe is the coolest tech venture I have heard about in a long time. Probably the best analogy to describe it is “a search engine for human genetic information”.
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\nHow do you translate the concept of searching to human genetics? How do you “crawl” people? In the case of genes, you can\u00b4t crawl them…but people can ping you. How? By sending you some spit over the mail. While saliva may not seem to be the most elegant way to deal with the problem, it seems to be the best choices considering all bodily fluid alternatives. So to join 23andMe, map yourself in the global genetic pool and be searchable, all you have to do is send some saliva and pay for its analysis. <\/p>\n
The mapping is not as expensive as you imagine. You may recall that the original human mapping was done around 2000 at a cost of billions of dollars for the first genome. Now the good news is that genetic mapping seems to have its own Moore\u00b4s law<\/a> and what used to cost billions now costs only $1000. In only 7 years. So for the price of a laptop you can now learn the most intimate details of your genetic self. <\/p>\n Why would you want to be mapped? First reason: to search yourself. Who has not Googled her\/his name? So if you like to know what others think about you, wouldn\u00b4t you like to know what “you say about yourself” genetically speaking? And as medicine advances, wouldn\u00b4t you like to be notified of news concerning your own genes and what they predict about your life? I would, especially if, in so doing, I can learn to live a longer, healthier life. <\/p>\n And what about relatives? I found long lost relatives Googling my last name and we started the Varsanet, which is the network of the Varsavsky\u00b4s online. Now wouldn\u00b4t be exciting to find genetic relatives? If people are joining so many social sites to find out what they have in common, why not find out who the person who is closest to you in the genetic sense is? <\/p>\n And then there are the enormous benefits that medicine in general can derive from a data base made of millions of human beings whose genotypes and phenotypes appear. Imagine all the fascinating visual work that can be done with gene mapping and medicine. You may just want to join to help humanity understand itself. <\/p>\n Have I convinced you? Are you ready to send your saliva? Well, sorry, but you will have to wait because all this is being built. But if you like the concept and are interested in applying your skills to the venture they are hiring<\/a>.<\/p>\n