SNW INTERVIEW - Oct 26 -
23andMe on its Web site calls itself “a Web-based service that helps customers read and understand their DNA.” As Community Manager, Chia Hwu oversees all of the company’s social networking initiatives. – Jenn Rubin
What does your organization do?
23andMe is a personal genome company. What that means is we will actually take your DNA,
analyze it and tell you what your risk factors are for things like
diseases. We’ll also tell you your deep ancestry. So if you’re really
interested in where you’re from, you can find that out from our service.
Why the name 23andMe?
There are 23 pairs of chromosomes in most people.
Walk me through exactly how the DNA-testing process would work. I go to 23andMe.com. What would I do next?
You come to our Web site and purchase the kit. It’s a one-time fee of
$399. There is a fairly intensive form that you have to read through
before we’ll sell you our service. We want to make sure you know that
you’re getting your genetic data and what that might mean.
We find out your DNA through a non-invasive test. You spit into a tube. You don’t have to get blood drawn. The other thing I have to say is this is not a clinical test. It is something for your own education.
So, you get the results of your data. Is this where social networking comes into play?
The social aspect is that you can share your genome with others. We
have a tool called “Family Inheritance,” where you can see if you have
similarity between you and someone else.
So if you do the test and you’re sharing with a cousin, you’ll see like a certain amount of similarity in your genome. If you do it with a sibling, you’ll have regions where you’re completely identical.
What are some of the other community-building features on the site?
We have a forum where you can talk to others about your results. We
have a lot of people who want to talk about, for example, “Oh, we’re
both haplogroup R1b1a. Can we talk about where your family is from, and
do we all come from the same area of Europe?”
There is also a health part. Someone will say, “I have had this weird toe, and I want to know if there is something that is genetic about it. Can we compare our genetic data and see if we can find something?”
Tell me about the company’s relationship with Google.
They are an investor. Google has also invested in Navigenics, which is one of our competitors.
Why is Google looking to invest in this sector?
Google is interested in how we index the massive amounts of data we work with.
Who is 23andMe designed for?
We are going after people who are interested in their own health. That
is a big market, like I want to know what my risk factor for something
like prostate cancer for men would be genetically. We have a list of
116 different health traits that we look at.
We also can look at drug interactions. There is a very popular blood thinner that a lot of people take called Warfarin. It’s also known as Coumadin. There is a genetic test that will tell you if you’re more sensitive or less sensitive to it. The reason that’s important is because if you take a little too much for your system, you will end up what they call bleeding out.
Any new social networking features you are planning for the site?
We have one coming up. It’s an interactive feature where you can
determine from genes very distant relations. It’s not just are you my
2nd cousin, but are you my 7th cousin?
Why would one want to pick 23andMe over other health-related sites for social networking?
I don’t think any other site has social networking, not in the same
way. On our site, if you know the e-mail address of a person who has
tested with us, you can say I want to share genetic information with
you. With one click, you can look at each other’s data.
