It’s because of this that the launch of 23andme yesterday was particularly interesting though I have to say, I haven’t seen anything in any of the patents on how this ties together.

For those that haven’t heard yet, 23andme is a DNA testing facility of sorts. For $999 they’ll send you a saliva kit which you mail back and a few weeks later you can logon to their site and see how your DNA looks as far as a few conditions and diseases go (heart attacks, strokes, etc.). Now the real curiosity to me is that this company is funded by Google. Why?

Well one reason could be that one of the founders is Anne Wojcicki, who has a background in health-care investing and is married to Google Inc co-founder Sergey Brin. Good reason HOWEVER Sergey can’t just hand over millions of gBucks whenever he likes so there has to be a benefit for Google.

There is the chance that the folks over at Google simply believe that this is an interesting project and lucrative in it’s own right and thought to diversify their funding sources. Of course! Advertising is sooooo yesterday. Time to move on.

Or there is some data that the gPeople are hoping to get? Is this the first step in a larger project to get our DNA. What personalization options will Google have if they know you’re going to die at 45? You’ll know you’re in trouble when funeral home ads start popping up when you’re partner is surfing the web.

It’s definitely WAY too early to come to any conclusive idea as to what the folks at Google are really hoping to accomplish but it’ll be interesting to watch them and how they use the data they collect.

The issue I find more immediately concerning is the privacy issues. While the 23andme website claims high levels of security (and I have no doubt they’re telling the truth there) the government can step in and demand the files. I’m not saying they’re going to do it, but they could. And to me, that’s a bit frightening [ i don’t know what my DNA says about me but I don’t know if I want my government and, worse yet, my insurance companies to know.

Some other sources of info on this launch:

• Reuters
• SFGate

Tag:

Doctor Google: Healthcare Through Search

Instead of "physician, heal thyself," the 21st century reworking of that ancient saying could be "you, heal yourself." Bits and pieces of Google Health, Google’s views on health ads notwithstanding, hint at a sum where people take an active role in their preventative care.

‘Googling Google’ blogger Garett Rogers dug into some healthcare blog observations to find a trail of clues that lead all the way to Google co-founder Sergey Brin and his new wife, Anne Wojcicki:

23andme is a startup founded by Sergey Brin’s wife and funded by Sergey himself. The stage is set to give users access and real control of their own personal health. Just imagine one day being able to diagnose yourself with heart disease and take preventative measures years before a potential heart attack — scientifically determined through the human genome. Google would have to be very careful allowing users to diagnose themselves, but if its done right it could have a huge impact on society and quality of life.

The pieces that add up to this possible future come from e-CareManagement and The Health Care Blog. At e-CareManagement, Vince Kuraitis wrote at length about the various clues left out there by Adam Bosworth, head of Google Health, and others:

Google Health (GH) could be the event of the decade in advancing health care reform — not just healthcare information technology (HIT) reform, but health care system reform. GH promises simultaneously to create AND dominate the market for next generation personal health records (PHRs).

The Health Care Blog added on the suggestion about 23andMe’s involvement. That is the company Brin’s wife co-founded with financial backing from her husband. 23andMe "is a privately held company developing new ways to help you make sense of your own genetic information," the site says.

It’s been suggested that in the US, the healthcare industry excels at trauma care, but doesn’t perform nearly as well in preventative care. That’s what a hypothesized Google Health could correct.

Security of the information would have to be as critical as its accuracy. Letting prospective employers and others browse through its database like a Hippocratic version of Facebook, whether by accident or design, simply cannot happen.

MarketWatch picked up on the investment, as noted in an 8-K filing with the SEC that posted today.

Other details of the transaction showed Brin’s involvement with 23andMe before this investment:

Prior to Google

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