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"The 23andMe poll has not yet closed, but it is getting late in the day, and I wanted to get my bit about 23andMe's press conference up and online while it was still relevant.  Earlier today, we asked Mashable readers their thoughts about the personal genetics, and whether they'd want to have their DNA analyzed by a company like 23andMe.\nAs of the moment, the folks who said they would dramatically pulled away from the folks who say \"no way,\" leaving us wondering if the folks at the Mountain View campus may have just finished with work and discovered the poll.\n23andMe, the personal genetics company, held their press conference today, which I was alert enough to remember to attend, thankfully.  It offered quite a decent peek into the company and exactly what it is they're aiming to do, which wasn't exactly what I thought originally. The impression I got from talking to folks inside Google and those on the web who had written about it is that it was primarily to be used as a luxury DNA mapping utility for those that (can afford to) pay to have it done.  As it turns out, it's less of a novelty item for those with super-expendable income, but more of a voluntary support group for those with super-expendable income who want to significantly further genetic research.\nThe bulk of the press conference centered around the altruistic aims of 23anMe.  They intend to provide some amount of service for the $999 genetics test, such as explanations of the different genetic markers in your DNA, genotyping, and comparitive matching to the rest of your family (should you spot your daddy a grand for a DNA, too).  Most of their work is in aggregating your DNA data and submitting it to other scholarly studies on DNA and genetics, thereby reducing research costs for scientists and accelerating the rate of return in many studies.\nTo be fair, the $999 price point  for a DNA analysis is a greatly reduced price from where it used to be, and what I've heard from some within Google Health was confirmed by Anne and Linda: the price of the service is expected to be greatly reduced by coming breakthroughs in DNA testing technology.\nAnother issue that came up about 30 seconds into the Q&amp;A session was the inevitble question of privacy. It was clear in the phrasing of the question that it came from someone who was a bit suspicious of Google's moves to organize the world's data, as the question went directly to who specifically owned the raw DNA data after it came back from the outsourced laboratory. The answer, given by Sergey Brin's wife Anne Wojcicki, was designed to be reassuring, but fell somewhat short of the mark. It meandered all over the map, stopping to linger extensively around the concept that \"the individual is the keeper of the data,\" and \"we're simply the aggregators of the DNA data.\"  They never outrightly said, however, that a long legalese Terms of Service agreement didn't lay claim to ownership of the DNA.\nDespite those ire-inspiring words and explanation, privacy concerns are sufficiently allayed, as very little personally identifiable information is tied to your genetics account.  All PII is for billing purposes, and in the actual genetics database, according to what was said today at the conference, the only PII is your email address.\nThere is going to be a lot more coming down the road for 23andMe than what is presently offered, according to Linda Avey and Anne Wojcicki today at the conference.  One of the ideas floated to them from the press, one that was warmly recieved by both Linda and Anne, was a social network available at 23andMe where social connections were made for you by DNA genotype similarity.  It was described by the press member asking the question as \"the ultimate in social networking,\" a sentiment that seemed to be echoed in tone by Linda and Anne.\nI can't imagine the usefulness or entertainment value in such a system, but then I'm not much of a geneticist (perhaps someone out there with a bit more of a background in it can explain the inside joke I seem to be missing).\nNone the less, 23andMe sounds like a solid organization, with a firm grasp on where it is they are going. It will be interesting to see this space develop.\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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