Google Wants to Index Your DNA, Too

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A Who's Who of Venture Capitalists

Agus, director of the Spielberg Family Center for Applied Proteomics at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, treats Hollywood celebrities, Saudi royalty, and others with deep pockets, but he conceived the company as a way to avert costly diseases. He's hoping Navigenics will inspire a health-care revolution from the masses, by directly supplying vital information to consumers, who will in turn mobilize their doctors. "Going to the individual is how we're going to change doctors," Agus says, "and that's how we're going to change medicine and health-care costs et cetera— prevention of disease."

Since November, two other firms have offered consumers Web-based genetic tests. Mountain View (Calif.)-based 23andMe gives customers their raw genetic data so they can explore their ancestry, possible predisposition to diseases, or engage in social networking with other clients wishing to share their genetic profiles. And deCODE Genetics (DCGN), of Reykjavik, Iceland, tabulates genetic risk for 26 diseases and conditions, provides ancestry data, and lets users share the information with others. (A deCODE spokesman says Google doesn't own a stake in the company.)

A who's who of the venture-capital world is backing Navigenics. The startup completed its second round of funding in November, raising more than $25 million from Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, and Mohr Davidow Ventures. Mari Baker, a former "executive-in-residence" at Kleiner Perkins and ex-Intuit (INTU) executive, is Navigenics' CEO. MDV had also funded 23andMe but that relationship has ended. Other, individual investors include Scott Cook, a co-founder of Intuit, and Dr. Lubert Stryer, a 2006 National Medal of Science winner, an adviser to Affymetrix and professor emeritus of neurobiology at Stanford University. The school was also an early investor in Navigenics.

Mapping Out the Competition

Interestingly, Navigenics and 23andMe don't consider themselves competitors. Navigenics' DuRoss says "23andMe has taken the approach of providing you a fun, social, and ancestral look at your DNA," adding that her company "has taken the view that science, clinical utility, and the ability to do something about your health is of paramount importance."

Wojcicki, in an e-mail to BusinessWeek, said "23andMe looks at genetics holistically," adding, "Individuals want to understand the health component of their genetics, but they also want to explore their ancestry and compare themselves to other individuals. We work with an outstanding scientific advisory board [and] concluded…that the clinical utility of most of this information is still unknown. We hope that over time…we will have a better understanding of how this information should be used in a clinical setting."

For all its promise, the biggest hurdle to direct-to-consumer testing may be the medical community's resistance. The American College of Medical Genetics recommends that "a knowledgeable health-care professional be involved in the ordering of DNA-based genetic tests," President Joe Leigh Simpson said in an e-mail. "Just because a test exists does not mean it is right for everyone," he said. "Many of the new DNA tests assessing disease susceptibility can provide only a relative risk, not an absolute diagnosis."

Backman is a freelance writer in New York City .