Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
been some doubt cast on the idea that biological networks are truly
scale-free, 28 the similarity between computer-electronic and biological
networks suggests another reason why the same sets of practices and
problems should apply to both.
During 2007 and 2008, the advent of various “personal genome
projects” further imbricated biology and the web. Companies such as
23andMe and Navigenics began to operate genotyping services that
made vast amounts of personal genomic and medical data available over
the Internet. The web makes it possible not only to display these data
in ways that nonspecialists can understand, but also to integrate them
with social networking facilities (such as 23andWe, for those who wish
to connect with other people with similar genetic traits), dietary ad-
vice, and exercise regimens (to offset risks of genetic predispositions),
all downloadable to your iPhone or Blackberry.
In September 2007, I interviewed a software entrepreneur who had
been working in biology for the last decade—he had worked with Eric
Lander at the Whitehead Institute to produce some of the fi rst detailed
computational analysis of the human genome. His latest start-up was
a professional networking website for scientists—for him, this was a
natural step not only because it promoted the sharing of biological in-
formation, but also because it harnessed his own skills and experience
in managing complex networks of data. For such entrepreneurs, and for
companies like 23andMe, biological data, browsing the web, and social
networking have become part of a single experience of sharing and us-
ing information.
In May 2007, Google invested $3.7 million in 23andMe. Notwith-
standing the fact that Anne Wojcicki, cofounder, major shareholder, and
member of the board of directors of 23andMe, was then engaged (later
married) to Sergey Brin (one of the search engine's founders and presi-
dent for technology), Google wanted to make sure that it had a stake
in this new information revolution. As one Silicon Valley blogger put it,
“If Google wants to really organize the world's information, it needs to
consider DNA, the most personal of data.” 29 For about $1,000, it may
soon be possible to “Google your genome,” searching the mass of avail-
able data just as one would search for a web page. The alliance between
Google and 23andMe represents a merging of the biotech and web in-
dustries: 23andMe is based in Silicon Valley, just down the road from
Google, and “feels very much like the quintessential startup.” 30
Not only Google, but Microsoft and a range of other software and
web-centered companies as well, have now begun to take an interest in
biomedicine. For example, Google set up Google Health (launched in
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