Google your DNA for $999. 23andMe

23andMe will decode your DNA for $999. Spit in a cup, send it in, and a month later they send you a genetic profile in the mail. You'll learn, is your daddy really your daddy. Are you susptible to any terrible genetic diseases, do you have what it takes to be an Olympic sprinter or, even better...

Are you more closely related to European royalty or American outlawry? Use 23andMe's Ancestry tools to find out whether your maternal lineage links you more closely to Marie Antoinette or Jesse James. Your 23andMe account also connects you genetically to many other celebrities and historical figures, from Bono to Ben Franklin. Read more about 23andMe's celebrity features.

Mike Arrington brings up some good policy points.

..What if this information becomes public? What if I can’t get health care because of the results? Call me a luddite, but this is a whole new class of private information that previous generations didn’t have to deal with. Our laws are waaaaay behind the curve here when it comes to protecting us. ...

23andMe has strong security features in place to keep my information fairly secure. But there’s a big hole in the plan - what if I simply send in someone else’s spit? What if it’s someone I’m thinking about marrying? What if someone does that to me? There’s no way to stop people from spending $1,000 and getting a full genetic download of ME, in all my flawed glory.

Andrew Myer's is raising money to test his DNA with 23andme. And, he's going to be blogging the whole experience. 

This service is being run by  Anne Wojcicki, Google co-founder's Sergey Brin's wife. 

Comments

[Andrew Meyer]

Thanks for the shout-out guys!

[Naa Travel Guy]

Wow, I'm not even sure I'd want to know what I was up against when it comes to my DNA. I think if I knew I were more prone to get a disease my chances of actually getting it would go way up! There's so many issues at play beyond the privacy thing (not that that isn't big)!