I really want to decode my genome by Christmas. Update: $1000 raised! See “Update 4″ below for more.
Unlock the secrets of my DNA if you will. Not only that, I want to be able to read and understand my DNA. I want to figure out what diseases I’m going to catch in the future. I want to figure out if I’m going to suffer a heart attack or gain 40 extra pounds by the time I’m 35 years of age.
This isn’t crazy talk.
Supposedly, 23andMe a biotech startup based out of Mountain View, CA, can help me do this. For only $999.
Their mission is to be the world’s trusted source of personal genetic information. How badass is that?
23andMe claims that they can help me “gain deeper insights into my personal ancestry, genealogy and inherited traits”. They say they will help me understand my genetic information using recent advances in DNA analysis technologies and web-based interactive tools.
All I have to do is fill a tube with my own saliva, they do their laboratory magic, and BLAMMMO I log-in to my online Genome Explorer and surf away.
NY Times’ Amy Harmon in this excellent 23andMe article felt as if she was “Googling my own DNA” while using the Genome Explorer.
Sweet!!!!! I am so down. Sign me up immediately.
I can’t wait to Google my DNA and figure out I need to start going in for monthly colonoscopy’s to ward off future lurking colon cancer.
I’m not saying any of this with my tongue in cheek. I’m completely serious.
However, $999 is $999. So, I’m going to rally the troops and do some fundraising. I’m going to pester friends, family and strangers until I raise the $999 needed for 23andMe’s saliva collection kit.
Why am I doing this? Why would I bother close friends, family and not-so-close strangers to raise $999.
1. I think this is amazingly interesting. I’ll be given a window into my personal genetic makeup (not my whole genome, but my distinctive SNPs). Plus, my ancestry.
2. I love innovative startups that that boil hugely complex problems into easy-to-swallow products and services for simpler people like myself.
3. I’m fascinated with how this company and idea will evolve. Putting peoples’ genetic info into the palm of their hands where they can easily access and interpret it is a wildly powerful concept.
What will YOU gain from donating money towards my 23andMe saliva collection kit???
I’m going to track my 23andMe experience on this blog. You’ll be given both window and communication channel into someone actually using the service. This will be an ongoing and evolving process that can’t be summed up in an excellent Wired article.
I’ll be documenting everything from filling the saliva tube to opening the Genome Explorer for the first time and on and on and on.
If I find an unusual disease in my near future I’ll probably be sharing it with you. I have no shame.
Not only that, I’ll blog what the 23andMe service tells me what to do with my unusual disease discovery. I tell you what referrals they give to the specific disease’s top specialists. Maybe they will have AdSense installed on their site and text-link ads will pop-up with leads for the specific disease’s cure. Who knows?
23andMe plans to add more and more features as their service develops. I will be blogging about them as they appear.
Here is my last plea for your donations: I’m a recent grad without a lot of extra spending cash who will give you play-by-play of my DNA-decoding journey. You’ll be able to keep tuning into this blog to catch frank, humorous, and, probably shocking accounts of 23andMe’s service and evolution.
So, please help me decode my genome by Christmas!
All money raised will go towards a $999 23andMe Saliva Collection Kit for myself, Andrew Meyer. Anything raised in excess of the $999 will be immediately returned.
Let’s do this!
Donate using the button below. I’ll take whatever you send my way. See “Update 4″ below.
Update: Mike Arrington over at TechCrunch just gave his saliva to 23andMe so it must be OK. He even gave my genome decoding campaign a holler. Check out his 23andMe post here.
Update 2: You can also donate using the PayPal storefront widget below. Feel free to embed the widget on your blogs and websites using the “Help sell these products” link. Thanks again everyone!
Update 3: Please Digg away!!!
Update 4: $1000 raised! Just ordered the 23andMe kit. Read more here.
