Bloomberg.com reported Wednesday that a company owned by Google Inc. has amassed 1 million DNA samples from $99 kits submitted by people to Ancestry.com. The kits are designed to help people track their geneology and assemble family trees. But the company, Calico, wants to use the material to learn what makes people live longer.
Here are 5 things to know about Calico's project to assemble the DNA database.
1. The company is diversified - The biomedical company brands itself as a research and development company with the goal of discovering interventional methods of increasing longevity in humans. From their website: "We are scientists from the fields of medicine, drug development, molecular biology, and genetics."
2. There's big tech, and big money, involved - Calico was created by Google Inc. with the sole purpose of researching genetic diseases and what makes a person - and whole families - live longer than others. The CEO of Calico is the chairman of Apple Inc., Arthur Levinson. The company is diving into DNA samples collected by Ancestry.com, a half-billion-dollar company in its own right. Ancestry.com reported $619.5 million in earnings last year. Calico has signed "collaborative" deals with other tech and medical firms, including AbbVie Inc., which has contributed $750 million toward building a research and development center in the San Francisco Bay Area. According to its website, AbbVie Inc. is a pharmaceutical research and development company. Revenue for AbbVie is expected to top $5.6 billion this quarter, and more than $23 billion for the year.
3. The kits are cheap and easy - The DNA kits marketed to help you trace your family's genealogy are assembled and sequenced by Calico researchers. The kits are $99 and require a small sample of saliva. A link to your results is emailed to you six to eight weeks later. A question and answer page is posted on the DNA kit web page.
4. Ancestry.com is expanding - The company launched AncestryHealth.com on July 16. AncestryHealth will encourage people to submit DNA samples in order to create a family health history.
