Comments on: Google, Sergey and 23andMe: Why it all makes sense

By: Greg450318

Greg450318 — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 18:53:20 +0000

To 2B1 - the future may lead to the Nanophotonics Biosciences process but today 23andMe is ready for primetime. Sometimes it isn't the tech that might be, but the tech that is.

As for the questions about Google's investment. Why wouldn't they invest? As far as a biotech venture goes, 23andMe has an all-star lineup in their dugout and a product on the shelf ready for market. I confess I'm not thrilled about Google setting its sights on genetic info but there are few competitors of their calibre capable of dealing in the tera- or petabyte+ world of data handling out there and making it useful for the masses.

Cheers, Greg

By: 2B1

2B1 — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 03:37:45 +0000

To Genie:

If you have the competence to comment on the substance of my comparison between Terahertz-based direct sequencing (developed by Nanophotonics Biosciences) and the limited value of high-density-microarray based genotyping (offered at $1000 per customer by 23andme, DeCode Genetics, and Navigenics) please do so. Otherwise, please stop your slander.

By: genie

genie — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 21:09:40 +0000

Please save us from the self-promotional "Nanophotonics Biosciences (Menlo Park, CA)" comments. We get that you are trying to link this company with some interesting personal genomics discussions, and have nice search engine rating, but c'mon...

If you really want people to evaluate Nanophotonics Biosciences, get a website and put up some information about the technology.

By: 2B1

2B1 — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 22:24:01 +0000

The current genome sequence variation reference point used by 23andme, DeCode Genetics, and Navigenics is inadequate to be of any practical use to the consumer. Also, $1000 is an impractical cost for the limited value of the result.

However, direct whole-genome DNA sequencing for $1000 per customer will empower the individual to practice preventative medicine without becoming a patient in the dysfunctional and bankrupt health care system.

Current medical practice is an ancient art that will soon become extinct due to direct whole-genome DNA sequencing. Companies such as Nanophotonics Biosciences (Menlo Park, CA) will likely be the first to complete the development of this technology because they can identify individual molecules with up to Terahertz speed per device, which translates into reading individual customer’s entire genome of more than 3 billion subunits in less than 1 millisecond.

Welcome to knowing yourself and others without the present degree of ambiguity.

By: JZ

JZ — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 16:43:55 +0000

No significant mention about where this might all lead and what Google's suits ultimately envision after possibly accomplishing some sort of "organization of the world's information."

The assumption in all of this is that they are capable and deserve such a world role and that there is only their way of organizing it all?

Behemoth's in the fortune 500 need to be put in their place. Domination is closer to enslavement then some kind of benevolent corporate wet dream but most people interested in these subjects seem to overlook and ignore these things.

By: GeneticsIsNotAJoke

GeneticsIsNotAJoke — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 11:38:40 +0000

I do not completely believe in the information about telling you how to live so that you can avoid certain diseases. The truth of the matter is that the exact science to predict such things DOES NOT exits and such speculations could cause a lot of panic among a person’s life. What I mean is that there is no model which exists today, and predicts that if a person has a certain variant in his genome, he/she will get the disease in the future. Even if we assume that such a thing exists, i.e. if someone, somehow is able to test and tell you if you will get a disease in the future, NOTHING much can be done about it. The reason is simple: Pharama companies are not make PRE-Symptomatic drugs, i.e. they are only making drugs for diseases when you show symptoms of those diseases and almost nothing exists for you to take a drug, when you do not have the disease but might get it in the future. I believe such services by 23andme etc are just to increase panic in the world. Having said all this, it is definately a good service to offer, not now, but 10 years or so down the line, when you know exactly how these diseases are caused in the lifetime and when what can be done about them. I hope people really understand what they are doing before opting for such a service. If you have to get a disease in the future, it is better to enjoy your days in life till you get that disease, provided it is a disease for which nothing much can be done about it at this stage.

By: Viktor Stolc

Viktor Stolc — Thu, 31 May 2007 19:53:05 +0000

The best company to enable Google into the genomics-for-consumers market would be the fastest DNA sequencing startup. One such company is Nanophotonics Biosciences, Inc. (Menlo Park, CA). They have been working in secrecy on their nanophotonic reader that can directly read single molecules nearly instantaneously without any biochemical manipulation. Should Google acquire NPB, it would be the end of privacy: Welcome to knowing yourself and others without ambiguity.

By: Daniel Gray

Daniel Gray — Tue, 29 May 2007 01:31:40 +0000

According to the old Gray lady (not my mom, thank you), it was a $2.1M million birthday party for Mrs. Kozlowski. Ah, but who cares about a mere $100Gs.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D05EFD8153EF93AA25753C1A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print

By: Erwin Feldhaus

Erwin Feldhaus — Mon, 28 May 2007 19:22:43 +0000

The best thing is:

Apparently nobody knows what exactly 23andMe is doing, how they are going about it or how far into realising their goals they are... and despite this, they might become a household name in just a few weeks...

This is what it means to be born in the spotlight.

Magnificent coup!

By: BruceB

BruceB — Mon, 28 May 2007 14:58:02 +0000

I agree with earlier comments – what exactly is 23andMe’s business model? It will be quite interesting to see this develop. (And I agree with Venture Itch – this is a toe in the water for Google into bioinformatics, genomics and consumers.) But there are potential, huge ethical issues for 23andMe (depending on their business model): How will individual’s personal DNA information be kept private and confidential? If a gene variation is found that indicates a strong likelihood of future illness (breast cancer, e.g.)or even a death sentence (Huntington’s disease), will genetic counseling be made available? by whom? do consumers REALLY want some of this info? Also, what confidence will consumers have that the DNA analysis is done to the highest standards? Besides the business questions, there are huge personal and ethically questions. Should be interesting to see how this rolls out.