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Posts Tagged “

23andme

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job descriptions from the future

23andMe looking for designer comfortable with "vague" as directions


Designers, want to torture yourself in a contract position surrounded by smarmy, know-it-all PhDs who give you only the vaguest of instructions and expect you to master the intricacies of biotechnology overnight? Lured by the promise that you might one day get hired on full-time and get stock options at a company backed by Google and run by Google cofounder Sergey Brin's wife? Unbothered by the fact that the California Department of Public Health has just banned the company's service? Then, dear visual-thinking friends, this position for a graphic designer at 23andMe is for you! The job description: More »

3:00 PM on Wed Jun 18 2008
By Owen Thomas
805 views, 3 comments

Latest by damnedfool: technically it's not "banned." if you ordered the test today, you'd have no problem getting the results. more »

Biotech

23andMe told to cease and desist by California Department of Public Health

Not a good week for the Wojcicki family. Googler Susan Wojcicki has been caught making expensive demands on Google's daycare facilities. Meanwhile, her sister Anne, wife of Google cofounder Sergey Brin, is fending off cease-and-desist letters from pesky health regulators. Anne's company, Google-backed 23andMe, was told to stop offering the tests until officials could complete an investigation into whether sales to California residents were by doctor's orders, as required by state law. The genetics startup risks fines of up to $3,000 a day if it doesn't comply. More »

2:00 PM on Tue Jun 17 2008
By Jackson West
1,729 views, 7 comments

Latest by sample032: @Ted Dziuba: I thought they had more important things to do... like balance the budget. Oh. Fuckers. more »

d6 live coverage

Facebook board member lunches with Mrs. Rupert Murdoch

CARLSBAD, CA — Who are those cool cats in sunglasses at D6? Why, it's Jim Breyer of Accel Partners, a board member at Facebook, lunching with Wendi Murdoch, wife of the News Corp. CEO and chairwoman of MySpace China. Also at the table: Martha Stewart, seen here to the left; Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures; and Anne Wojcicki of 23andMe.

3:00 PM on Wed May 28 2008
By Owen Thomas
805 views, Comment

biotech

23andMe admits personalized genetic test serves no medical purpose

Facing possible fines and jail time, local gene sequencers Navigenics and 23andMe will have to get permits if they want to continue testing resident of New York state. Meanwhile, California is investigating 12 complaints against unnamed gene sequencing companies, with officials noting that "all genetic tests must be ordered by a licensed physician." Trying to distance themselves from health regulators, 23andMe spokesman Paul Kranholdt told Forbes that "23andMe's services are not medical ... they are educational." In other words, getting tested amounts to a $1,000 exercise in vanity. No wonder people in the Valley love it.

12:40 PM on Fri Apr 18 2008
By Jackson West
645 views, 3 comments

Latest by Bricked: Or choose the poor man's alternate. The Genographic Project from National Geographic cost 100 bucks. [www3.nationalgeographic.com] more »

biotech

Actual doctors urge skepticism of DNA-sequencing fad

Personal gene sequencing is all the rage among technophiles. But the medical establishment isn't necessarily on board — for starters, no insurance company will cover the cost, and doctors aren't always prepared to appropriately evaluate the results of a test. In an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers concluded that the time for personalized genetic testing is "Not now — ask again in a few years." 23andMe, which was cofounded by Sergey Brin's wife Anne Wojcicki and counts Google as an investor, offers a test for the low, low price of $1,000. New startup Navigenics will do the same for $2,500. But they will only sequence a few known genes, there are a lot of caveats in the fine print, and there are serious privacy concerns. So what's the upside? More »

2:20 PM on Tue Apr 1 2008
By Jackson West
535 views, 9 comments

Latest by Adam Rock: There's also deCODE Genetics ([www.decodediagnostics.com]), which will give you more specific test results for $200-$500 depending on the test (glaucoma, prostate cancer, etc). Looks like a lot more are popping up here and there...I just wonder how much Google wants to more »

great moments in genetic testing

Swingin' single Michael Arrington gets a date -- sort of

We learned a lot about TechCrunch's Michael Arrington yesterday. Writing about his 23andMe genetics profile, we now know he is quite tall, has a lower than normal chance of getting Type II diabetes and has wet earwax. Lovely. We also know that Michael Arrington is single, something he blames us for. Sorry, buddy. But, things could be looking brighter! Arrington got an unusual proposition in the comments on his post: "I am not interested just in your DNA results. you seem fairly successful, may I have your DNA? (looking for a donor)." His answer: More »

3:33 AM on Mon Mar 3 2008
By Jordan Golson
2,207 views, 10 comments

Latest by n/a: @Dweezil Don't bust on his weight... there's just more of him to hold in contempt. more »

your privacy is an illusion

Genetics research + online health profiles = burgers

With the launch of Google's health data service, we're going to set aside our skepticism for a moment and think about what this could potentially mean for society. Nah, screw society — for me personally. Google cofounder Sergey Brin invested in his wife's genetics research startup. 23andMe takes cheek swabs from customers and spits out their genetic history. Board member Esther Dyson writes:
a second goal of 23andMe [is] to collect a large database of genetic information and then come back to you over time with invitations to provide specific health data and participate in research.
Combining these data sets — health histories and extensive genetics information — could lead to significant breakthroughs in predicting future health issues. I think this means I can eat all the Yahoo burgers I want without worrying!

4:40 PM on Fri Feb 29 2008
By Jordan Golson
428 views, 1 comment

Latest by n/a: + [www.bloomberg.com] "Google has financially backed a project from a Harvard University scientist to unlock the secrets of common diseases by decoding the DNA of 100,000 people. The project will be the largest human genome sequencing project in the world, and may more »

23andme

Genetic testing reveals Michael Arrington's chintzy nature

23andMe, the genetics startup cofounded by Anne Wojcicki and Linda Avey, has outed TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington as a cheapskate. When Arrington discovered that 23andMe was handing out its $999 testing "Spit Kits" for free at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he hit up Wojcicki and Avey for a refund on the kit he'd already bought. They refused. Arrington nevertheless wrangled a free kit from the pair, which he's now giving away to TechCrunch readers. More »

2:00 PM on Wed Jan 30 2008
By Owen Thomas
958 views, 6 comments

executive summary

Wired in 1,200 words


Wired 15.12 comes in at two pounds, half the weight of a September Vogue. Most of it's the water weight of ads and a shopping guide, and I've summarized the meat of the issue in 1,200 words, so now you don't need to pick it up and risk ergonomic injury. More »

Feature

12:00 PM on Wed Dec 5 2007
By Nick Douglas
1,386 views, 7 comments

23andme

Google founder's wife uncovers cucumber haters everywhere


Google cofounder Sergey Brin's wife, Anne Wojcicki, cofounded and helps run a company called 23andMe. Since Google conveniently invested in 23andMe earlier this year, repaying a loan Brin made to the company, Google shareholders might want to keep a close eye on it to make sure everything is on the up and up. But according to this video from AllThingsD's Kara Swisher, there is no reason to worry. 23andMe is well on its way to answering the public's raucous demand for a service which will provide customers a way to find others who share their genetic traits. Traits like distaste for cucumbers, Wojcicki explains here. All this for only $1,000.

8:54 AM on Mon Nov 19 2007
By Nicholas Carlson
1,471 views, 5 comments

Latest by googoobaby: Isn't Sergey more or less a cucumber with a billion bucks attached? more »

larry and sergey

Google boys seriously in love with biotech

What are Sergey Brin and Larry Page really obsessed about? Look no further than their choice in lifemates, says Attila Csordas. Sergey Brin married 23andMe cofounder Anne Wojcicki — and also lent the company $2.6 million, which Google repaid when it invested $3.9 million in the company. Larry Page's fiancée, Lucy Southworth, is close to earning her Ph.D. — a feat neither Page nor Brin has accomplished. Her field of study is biomedical informatics, a field which harnesses high-powered computing for biotech research. Larry and Sergey made their billions on online advertising, a business the pair openly despised when they created the Google search engine. The heart has its own code, and in Larry and Sergey's case, I think it's DNA base pairs.

5:27 PM on Wed Nov 14 2007
By Owen Thomas
1,346 views, 3 comments

Latest by Mcneri: I beg to differ....with hindsight. I recently caught Larry Page on an obscure wordpress dot com blog. While he could deny opening the blog (c'mon this is the internet), I think the blog reflects his secret romance with wordpress rather more »

web 2.0 to english

How soon can I Google my date's DNA?

J. Craig Venter is the scientist whose startup beat the government-funded Human Genome Project to mapping a single person's entire DNA. Whose DNA? Duh, Venter's! On the last morning of the Web 2.0 Summit, Venter brought the audience up to date on the faster-than-Moore's-Law advances in reading and writing genes. More »

10:31 AM on Fri Oct 19 2007
By Paul Boutin
381 views, 1 comment

biotech

Haha, I saw your mom's genes

Say what you want about the alleged nepotism behind 23andme, but this genetics startup founded by Anne Wojcicki (recently married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin) sounds sweet. According to Forbes, clients send in a cheek swab, get back info on their DNA, including information on their ancestry and even distant relatives. I bet that sensitive information is behind a lot of security, right? More »

4:22 PM on Wed Sep 12 2007
By Nick Douglas
884 views, 1 comment

conflicts of interest

Arrogant Googlers tempt the gods

Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad. I'm not sure if Euripides, the Greek playwright, had Google's management team in mind when he wrote that, but it sure fits. Google, despite the occasional lost deal, billion-dollar lawsuit, and PR black eye, continues to succeed spectacularly as a business. "Somehow they continue shitting more money than you or i could realistically comprehend," writes one Valleywag reader. Indeed. And that money is driving the people who run Google insane. CEO Eric Schmidt's cosseting of girlfriend Marcy Simon with a plum PR job is just the latest, most blatant sign of that madness. More »

Feature

12:16 PM on Wed Sep 5 2007
By Owen Thomas
4,153 views, 7 comments

Latest by schvitzatura: Is it really any different than Caligula's fav horse, Incitatus: fed oats mixed with gold flake; had a stable of marble, with an ivory manger, purple blankets and a collar of precious stones. First comes hubris, nemesis shortly thereafter... more »

geek love

It's a good thing

As new husband Sergey Brin stands watch, 23andMe's Anne Wojcicki, recently married to the Google cofounder, shows photos from her recent wedding to home-style guru Martha Stewart, at this weekend's Science Foo Camp nerdfest. No wedding bells, at the moment, for Stewart, who's merely going steady with early Microsoft employee Charles Simonyi. More »

2:12 PM on Mon Aug 6 2007
By Megan McCarthy
6,241 views, 9 comments

Latest by Valleygrrl: Each of them could buy and sell the commenters on this thread a few times over, including me. I'd take that in exchange for a shiny forehead on a hot PA afternoon, no? more »

wedding announcements

A gay venture capitalist ties the knot

The Valley styles itself as gay-friendly. But how many queer venture capitalists can you think of? Here's a sign, in the month of gay pride, of change in the wind: NEA's Patrick Chung recently held a commitment ceremony with partner Matthew Burt, a church choir director. After the jump, more on Chung and Burt's Valley links, and a photo of the wedding party. More »

3:56 AM on Tue Jun 19 2007
By wagger1
2,932 views, 6 comments