Mapping Chromosomes Pioneering entrepreneur Anne Wojcicki has put DNA testing into the hands of any person in the world who wants to know their ancestral heritage, genetic traits and tendencies, and the status of their health and how best to manage any potential risks they may be facing. Her company is at the forefront of a seismic shift in the medical/ healthcare field, taking high tech science out of the hands of experts and giving easy-to-understand historical and physical information directly to the consumer. In 2006, Ms Wojcicki co-founded and launched 23andMe with a reasonably priced, FDA approved, at home testing kit that requires a saliva sample to be mailed to a lab for a DNA analysis that can generate over 125 reports. These include comprehensive health and genealogy data, evidence of a predisposition to specific diseases and the risks for carrying genetic anomalies. Kits for targeted diseases like cystic fibrosis, some cancers, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's are also available, with more to come. And though Ancestry.com had been providing genealogical data since 1983, 23andMe took the findings several steps further. Anne is the youngest of the three children of Polish-Americans Esther and Stan-
ley Wojcicki, intellectuals who prize education and free thinking. Raised in a positive atmosphere of "find what motivates you the most and go after it," she attended Yale where she majored in biology, competed in ice skating and played on the varsity women's ice hockey team. She then worked as a healthcare consultant and Wall Street biotech analyst, but within a few years grew tired of focusing on financial health and not human health. So by 2000 she had returned to her initial love of hands-on biology and pure research, most particularly in the growing area of genomics. She believed there was a way that allowed people to participate in their own health decisions; that they did not need experts to interpret results of tests. Recognizing the infinite possibilities that would become available and could be life changing with gene testing, Ms. Wojcicki, with a biologist and a managing partner, created the 23andMe kit. Suddenly everyone in the world had a simple way to map their chromosomes and wellness without the guidance of a medical professional. It was a bold and revolutionary concept. Most people who have received a DNA analysis relish their results and will act accordingly on what has been revealed. Many
are also willing to allow their DNA to be legally available the same way that fingerprints are made available to law and legal agencies. 23andMe findings have gone beyond discovering one's own chromosomal mix. Its database has helped solve high profile cold cases through DNA linking, and it has also brought families together in ways that are unexpected. A few kinks have arisen that could potentially damage another organization, but Anne Wojcicki is undeterred. 23andMe has proven to be game changer. In the last few years, Big Pharma is lining up to utilize its massive database in drug discovery and development, and to track their products' effectiveness. Instead of running lengthy clinical analyses to determine how a new medicine affects the human body, 23andMe has made it possible to select specific genes to target and study, essentially circumventing whole body trials with possible side affects. Two obvious advantages of this pre-FDA approval approach is the savings for patients who will no longer bear the costs for such long research and development, and the turn around time in getting the drug on the market. We may be seeing just the tip of the possibilities and benefits 23andMe will bring to the world. The future seems very bright for Anna Wojcicki...it is no wonder she has been called the most daring CEO in the world. Good News
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