Thanks to the well pedigreed (and well connected) founders of 23andMe, genomics has become quite a hit with the rich and famous. Despite a recent ‘for the masses’ price cut to 23andMe’s genotyping services (now $400 as opposed to $1000), wealthy trendsetters are still taking it to the spittoon in this delightful New Yorker vignette

But a new development yesterday indicated an unexpected philanthropic effect of all this moneyed interest. Sergey Brin, husband to one of 23andMe’s founders and a Google founder himself revealed on his blog that his genome contains a mutation associated with elevated risk for Parkinson’s disease. His mother has the disease. In a very personal note, and quite aware of the uncertainty that pertains to this variant he discusses the opportunities that this knowledge affords:

I know early in my life something I am substantially predisposed to. I now have the opportunity to adjust my life to reduce those odds (e.g. there is evidence that exercise may be protective against Parkinson’s). I also have the opportunity to perform and support research into this disease long before it may affect me. And, regardless of my own health it can help my family members as well as others.

According to a New York Times story on the announcement, Brin has already donated money for Parkinson’s research, endowing a chair at the University of Maryland School of Medicine where his mother is being treated. Donors have generally given generously for causes that affect them personally. Perhaps this interest in genomics will mean more philanthropic endeavours based on speculation.