Google (NSDQ: GOOG) is tripling down on its investment in 23andMe, the personalized genetics testing company started by Anne Wojcicki, who is married to Google founder Sergey Brin. The company said in an SEC filing that it had invested $2.6 million in 23andMe earlier this month. That follows Google’s $3.9 million investment in May 2007, as well as its purchase of $500,000 worth of additional 23andMe shares six months later. The company also entered into a lease agreement with 23andMe this month, according to the filing.
Google says the transactions are all above board and that the lease deal was vetted by “an independent real-estate appraiser”; it also says both the lease and the investment were reviewed by the company’s audit committee “as part of Google’s procedures for entering into transactions with related parties.” But there are nevertheless very obvious conflicts of interest, especially considering that 23andMe’s business — which involves analyzing saliva samples to look at genetic makeups — is completely unrelated to the company’s internet business. (Google Health does store digital health records, but that connection is a stretch). Granted, 23andMe wasn’t begging for Google’s money. The additional investment is part of a $24 million second round that the company is raising. As of May, it had already brought in $11 million.

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