23andMe launches Parkinson's disease community for genetics research

23 March 2009

23andMe Inc., a personal genetics company based in California, has launched a Parkinson's disease initiative in collaboration with The US Parkinson's Institute and Clinical Center (PI) and The Michael J Fox Foundation (MJFF). The first-of-its-kind program will focus on enrolling 10,000 individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) in the 23andMe Personal Genome Service and its new PD community.

This cohort will allow 23andMe to both advance research in Parkinson's disease and create an online forum dedicated to connecting individuals and families affected by the disease. PI and MJFF are reaching out to Parkinson's patients in their networks and encouraging them to participate. 23andMe, PI and MJFF believe this effort will serve as a model for supporting research in many other diseases.

The initiative takes advantage of the 23andMe web-based platform to create an entirely new way to study complex diseases complicated by gene/environment interactions that are difficult to assess using traditional research mechanisms.

By using the Internet to query and interact with the research cohort, this platform significantly increases the efficiency and reduces the cost of recruiting participants and conducting research. The broad reach of the web allows individuals who are not near research centres to contribute and be part of the program.

Current customers of 23andMe, who are not Parkinson's disease patients, can also contribute by participating as healthy controls, a built-in efficiency that lowers the overall cost.

"We are excited to offer our patients the opportunity to join the 23andMe Parkinson's community," said J William Langston, MD, the Scientific Director and CEO of PI. "Not only will our patients benefit from the opportunity to know more about their personal genetic background, they understand that knowledge is strength, and only through greater understanding can we collectively advance science and medicine."

Katie Hood, CEO of The Michael J Fox Foundation, said, "The 23andMe Parkinson's initiative holds potential to leverage DNA technology, the Internet, and patient participation to accelerate discoveries that enhance our understanding of Parkinson's disease and our ability to develop breakthrough therapeutics."

The initiative is made possible through funding by Google co-founder Sergey Brin. Mr Brin's commitment comes from his personal interest in Parkinson's disease. Brin's mother has Parkinson's and he discovered through 23andMe that he has a genetic predisposition to the disease as well.

He explained, "We can make significant progress in understanding Parkinson's disease if individuals join together and contribute their personal experiences to scientific research. Individually, our genes and experiences are lost in a sea of statistical noise. But, taken together they become a high power lens on our inner workings."

Mr Brin's personal donation substantially underwrites the cost of genotyping the participants, who will pay only $25 compared with the usual commercial price of $399. Individuals who join through the PI and MJFF partnership will have the exact same data, information, tools, and access as individuals who have paid full price for the 23andMe Personal Genome Service.

The company plans to announce similar initiatives around other diseases. "Our approach of combining genetic data with the web-based collection of condition-specific information has the potential to drive the study of many disorders," said 23andMe co-founder Linda Avey. "We plan to partner with other sponsors and organizations and expand our research into new communities."

More information

23andMe Inc: www.23andme.com

The Michael J Fox Foundation (MJFF): www.michaeljfox.org/

The Parkinson's Institute and Clinical Center: www.thepi.org/

Bookmark this page

Your browser does not support inline frames or is currently configured not to display inline frames.	Your browser does not support inline frames or is currently configured not to display inline frames. 23andMe launches Parkinson's disease community for genetics research 23 March 2009 23andMe Inc., a personal genetics company based in California, has launched a Parkinson's disease initiative in collaboration with The US Parkinson's Institute and Clinical Center (PI) and The Michael J Fox Foundation (MJFF). The first-of-its-kind program will focus on enrolling 10,000 individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) in the 23andMe Personal Genome Service and its new PD community. This cohort will allow 23andMe to both advance research in Parkinson's disease and create an online forum dedicated to connecting individuals and families affected by the disease. PI and MJFF are reaching out to Parkinson's patients in their networks and encouraging them to participate. 23andMe, PI and MJFF believe this effort will serve as a model for supporting research in many other diseases. The initiative takes advantage of the 23andMe web-based platform to create an entirely new way to study complex diseases complicated by gene/environment interactions that are difficult to assess using traditional research mechanisms. By using the Internet to query and interact with the research cohort, this platform significantly increases the efficiency and reduces the cost of recruiting participants and conducting research. The broad reach of the web allows individuals who are not near research centres to contribute and be part of the program. Current customers of 23andMe, who are not Parkinson's disease patients, can also contribute by participating as healthy controls, a built-in efficiency that lowers the overall cost. "We are excited to offer our patients the opportunity to join the 23andMe Parkinson's community," said J William Langston, MD, the Scientific Director and CEO of PI. "Not only will our patients benefit from the opportunity to know more about their personal genetic background, they understand that knowledge is strength, and only through greater understanding can we collectively advance science and medicine." Katie Hood, CEO of The Michael J Fox Foundation, said, "The 23andMe Parkinson's initiative holds potential to leverage DNA technology, the Internet, and patient participation to accelerate discoveries that enhance our understanding of Parkinson's disease and our ability to develop breakthrough therapeutics." The initiative is made possible through funding by Google co-founder Sergey Brin. Mr Brin's commitment comes from his personal interest in Parkinson's disease. Brin's mother has Parkinson's and he discovered through 23andMe that he has a genetic predisposition to the disease as well. He explained, "We can make significant progress in understanding Parkinson's disease if individuals join together and contribute their personal experiences to scientific research. Individually, our genes and experiences are lost in a sea of statistical noise. But, taken together they become a high power lens on our inner workings." Mr Brin's personal donation substantially underwrites the cost of genotyping the participants, who will pay only $25 compared with the usual commercial price of $399. Individuals who join through the PI and MJFF partnership will have the exact same data, information, tools, and access as individuals who have paid full price for the 23andMe Personal Genome Service. The company plans to announce similar initiatives around other diseases. "Our approach of combining genetic data with the web-based collection of condition-specific information has the potential to drive the study of many disorders," said 23andMe co-founder Linda Avey. "We plan to partner with other sponsors and organizations and expand our research into new communities." More information 23andMe Inc: www.23andme.com The Michael J Fox Foundation (MJFF): www.michaeljfox.org/ The Parkinson's Institute and Clinical Center: www.thepi.org/ Bookmark this page Your browser does not support inline frames or is currently configured not to display inline frames. To top	Your browser does not support inline frames or is currently configured not to display inline frames.