23 And Me...And Google...And Your Genome

artifarce — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 12:51:00 -0800

Want your genome on a hard drive but don't have the money? 23andMe can give you almost that: a scan of your SNPs, presented online and complete with analyses derived from up-to-date medical research (and a few educated guesses). Eight months ago, blogs were rife with speculation of who 23 could be and what the connection with Google could mean. But only more recently did 23 launch, and were present at the World Economic Forum last month, obtaining the raw resources (i.e., spit) to develop the genome scan of hundreds of the world's most powerful people, something the Center for Genetics and Society refers to as the beginning of a "fashionable fetish" for the elite; Wired refers to the general trend as retail genomics. More seriously, the CGS also questions the ethics and goals of the scheme, positing that only big business will ultimately benefit (largely from patents and pharmaceuticals), while consumers may have something to lose—their genetic privacy. And to end on a note ripe for humor, 23 plans to release social networking features later this year. To learn more about the actual 23andMe procedure and web interface, the Wired article (linked above) and the NYT are on the case.

mathowie — Sun, 13 Feb 2000 23:45:42 -0800

As the Human Genome Project gets closer to unlocking the entire genetic code that makes up human beings, Clinton is urging researchers to keep it open to all. Apparently many pharmaceutical companies have patents on chunks of the code and uses for it. The government funded research continues to be posted to the web, hopefully the entire database will be available when they're done.

MetaFilter posts tagged with humangenome

23 And Me...And Google...And Your Genome