Where Should You Move Based Upon Your Genetics? The Ancient DNA Can Tell You!
Is 23andMe too dependent on the cult of personality of its founder?
Rofle Winkler has a very good article in The Wall Street Journal, whose title says it all: “23andMe’s Fall from $6 Billion to Nearly $0”
The logic of Sheryl Sandberg’s manufactured feminism has led to the predatory behavior Mark Zuckerberg was forced to defend before the Senate Judiciary committee. Sheryl, apparently no where to be found, as she scurries off to her ISRAID husband. Once again, a feminist escapes responsibility.
Were I advising any of the law firms suing 23andMe over its data privacy I’d argue that Anne Wojcicki invested more in personal branding than in security.
I mean what the heck even is this? How infantile…
And that’s before we get into the obvious questions around Sequoia as a Chinese front — why hasn’t it sold a share? — and the whole Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein early investments.
Do we honestly think it is a coincidence that the hackers targeted the Chinese and Jewish users? I mean, come on now.
Here’s hoping that 23andMe goes into responsible hands.
Genomics is a core government function and it’s becoming more and more useful to do massive sequencing, especially of the ancient genomes of the past which has revealed new insights into conditions like multiple sclerosis, type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.
Here’s the press release from the University of Cambridge:
Researchers have created the world’s largest ancient human gene bank by analysing the bones and teeth of almost 5,000 humans who lived across western Europe and Asia up to 34,000 years ago.
By sequencing ancient human DNA and comparing it to modern-day samples, the international team of experts mapped the historical spread of genes – and diseases – over time as populations migrated.
The ‘astounding’ results have been revealed in four trailblazing papers published today in the journal Nature and provide new biological understanding of debilitating disorders.
The study involved a large international team led by Professor Eske Willerslev at the Universities of Cambridge and Copenhagen, Professor Thomas Werge at the University of Copenhagen, and Professor Rasmus Nielsen at University of California, Berkeley, with contributions from 175 researchers from around the globe. They found:
The origins of neurodegenerative diseases including multiple sclerosis
Why northern Europeans today are taller than people from southern Europe
How major migration around 5,000 years ago introduced risk genes into the population in north-western Europe – leaving a legacy of higher rates of MS today
Carrying the MS gene was an advantage at the time as it protected ancient farmers from catching infectious diseases from their sheep and cattle
Genes known to increase the risk of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and type 2 diabetes were traced back to hunter gatherers
Future analysis is hoped to reveal more about the genetic markers of autism, ADHD, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression.
This stuff is going to continue to get very interesting and a lot faster than you might expect.
I envision a world where you can match your own DNA to these ancient genomes and where hobbyists can add other genomes and contribute to human knowledge once the cost of sequencing comes down.
Professor Eske Willerslev, who I had the good fortune to chat with earlier, has big ideas here that could well be useful. We discussed crime, of course, but also environmental DNA and even sperm issues around reproduction.
I’ve written already about something being right in the state of Denmark and Professor Willerslev is very much in keeping with that tradition.
Imagine knowing — after a sequence, of course — where you’re supposed to live based upon your genomics. Of course in the olden times you’d get doctors prescribe to their patients moving various places, say a warmer or sunnier or drier clime. But knowing the precise area? Well… For example: If you have a high likelihood of MS maybe you should spend more time challenging your immune system.
Maybe don’t change your DNA but do change what you eat and where you live. My friend Nassim Taleb advises people to eat a diet that’s more consistent with how our ancestors evolved. Some of my Middle Eastern friends tell me this fairly often.
It remains to be seen how much all of this changes our institutions which are already near collapsing under the weight of these insights. It’s hard to imagine how health care in its current form survives.
That, of course, is the subject of another time and how genomics is bringing back counterintelligence and polymathic insights and why it’s such a threat to staid business as usual practices.
What we’re bringing to market is going to make current treatments look like the “leech application” treatments of the medieval era.