Sep 22, 2008 10:40 AM
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In his first post to his new blog, Google founder Sergey Brin wrote that his genetic makeup includes a mutation called LRRK2, which means he has an increased chance of contracting Parkinson's. “Why would he disclose that?” medical experts asked the New York Times's Miguel Helft when he sought comment. Helft's theory — based on fellow Times journalist Allen Salkin's recent interview with the Google founder — is that Brin wants to turn the problem of solving his own DNA riddles into an open source project:
During their conversation, Mr. Brin said it could be useful to have one’s DNA code open to the public, where it could follow a sort of open-source model. If his data was public, he said, doctors — or anyone who was interested — could look at his results and make suggestions about how he should handle them, offering treatment suggestions if it showed he might be susceptible to a disease. “I figure if I put it out there, people would look at it and I’d learn something I need to know sooner than if I hadn’t put it out there,” Mr. Brin told Allen.
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