Anne WojcickiAnne Wojcicki, a biotech analyst and biologist, is co-founder of the “personal genetics” company 23andMe — which, for a fee, will take a bit of your spit and map out your DNA to learn genealogical details as well as your risk factors for certain diseases. Clients can also join the company’s gene-themed social networks and share their genetic info with others. Sort of like Facebook for your innards.
Wired‘s Adam Rogers wonders whether services like 23andMe could lead to “genetic hypochondria,” leaked genetic information, or a spike in preventive measures that some may consider extreme.
Wojcicki’s husband is a moderately well-known tech guy who, thanks to his wife’s work, learned that he has a genetic mutation that makes him more likely to get Parkinson’s disease.
Before starting 23andMe, Wojcicki spent 10 years in healthcare investing with a focus on biotech companies.
She has agreed to take your questions, so fire away in the comments section below. (I wonder what she thinks of a fat tax — that’s a tax on fat food, people, not fat people.) As with all Q&A’s, we will post the answers here shortly.
Addendum: Wojcicki answers your questions here.
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What types of characteristics are sex-linked?
Hi Anne,
I was bragging on your company around the dinner table last fall. My Dad took note and ordered me one of your kits for Christmas. (Cool Dad, right?)
I’m embarassed to say that I’ve let it sit on my shelf for several months. My excuse is that given my state of hightened sensitivity at the time (I was 6 months pregnant, and as an older Mom was completely freaked out about genetic maladies) I didn’t want to tempt fate by sending the kit in and finding out that I had some terrible, irreversible genetic thing that I was destined to pass along to my offspring.
My question is this: given that you guys continue to improve your algorithms, etc, for finding out relevant info about a person’s genetic makeup, does it make sense to continue to wait to send the kit in? Should I do it now? And, what about the kid—do you guys run genetic profiles for kiddos, too?
Hi, Anne,
How will your service deal with the emergent properties of complex traits? Many of the phenotypes we care most about seem to come not from variation in individual genes, but from the interactions among several. How does 23andme handle that?
While completing a case study on the use of microarrays in cancer research, I was hit like a ton of bricks on the potential that lies in the creation of genetic databases which would track a patient’s genetic profile along with their response to any treatments they receive. Apart in aiding to discover novel cancer subtypes, this information could then be used to aid the treatment of future cancer patients, allowing them to avoid treatments known to be ineffective on their cancer type. I find the thought of constructing such a database to be highly motivating, and am personally dedicated to seeing this happen.
23andMe has begun a program to collect genetic information from individuals of various diseases to aid in research projects. From both a business and research stand point 23andMe depends on people being willing to turn their genetic information over to a private company, my question is do you believe that the public is trending towards a more open minded take on such services? How much more work do you believe needs to be done in educating the public on the vast potential of these services?
Hi! I am thinking of getting a tattoo based on my genome. I am leaning toward nucleibase molecules down my spine in a single helix, starting with two guanine because I have a SNP where that pair predisposes me toward aneurism and cardiac disease.
My problem is that is only two molecules and I don’t think the adjacent ones in my 23andMe raw data include what is really adjacent since the chip isn’t exhaustive. Do you have any ideas what to do instead or if it would still make any sense to just do the molecules in my raw data in order? Does the concept make sense in the first place?
Thanks!
It seems that 23&Me’s strengths in scientific literature curation and web interface development would be well-suited to presenting more complex personal genetic information as well. As the cost of sequencing comes down on a per-sample basis, does 23&Me plan to begin offering products based on more than just hybridization-based SNP analysis? What are the diseases or other research topics for which sequencing data might add the most value to your services?
I’d love to know more about your genetic counseling services and how often they are used by 23andMe customers. Do you have a general percentage of how many people make contact with the counselors as opposed to just doing their own research (on their own and with what’s provided on your website)?
A person’s genealogical map might touch all parts of the earth, with its beginning in Africa. Examining maps of Caucasians and Asians, for example, might show a significant distance from the original African mother….
What percentage of non-Negroids mapped by you turn out to have a significantly African lineage despite their appearances? Asked another way, how many people turn out to be ‘recent Caucasians’ or ‘recent Asians’, if such terms even make sense?