Google-backed 23andMe hits major milestone: 100,000 users in DNA database
By Peter Delevett,
Mercury News
| 06. 15. 2011
Mountain View genomics startup 23andMe just hit a milestone: As of Wednesday, 100,000 people have uploaded their genetic code to the 4-year-old company's database.
Co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki says her scientists now have one of the world's largest genetic databases, which will enable them to do "a tremendous amount of discovery" into the possible causes of ailments such as Parkinson's disease. The company is also helping customers better understand their own DNA, the genetic blueprint that determines everything from whether someone is prone to breast cancer to whether their urine smells funny after eating asparagus (for 70 percent of us, the answer's yes on the latter).
But critics worry that 23andMe and other such genomics companies are misleading consumers with DNA profiles that don't tell nearly as much about their health -- good or bad -- as many might think. And in 23andMe's case, they've raised questions about the fact that one of the company's chief financial backers is Google (GOOG) -- whose co-founder, Sergey Brin, is Wojcicki's husband.
In a rare interview, Wojcicki spoke frankly about those controversies...
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