Can you spit in a tube? If so, Anne Wojcicki has a deal for you.
The businesswoman’s company, 23andMe, is the home of the $99 DNA test. In part, people use the service to scratch that genealogy itch, but Wojcicki had something else in mind when she co-founded the venture in 2006.
“Genetics is going to be a ubiquitous part of health care,” she told The New York Times earlier this week. “I think that everyone is going to get their genome. At some point, health care is going to reimburse for it. And you’re going to hear stories of people really taking ownership of health prevention, directed by their genome.” Armed with information about health risks and carrier status for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and certain types of cancer, citizens can make more informed decisions about their healthcare – and their family’s.
And with healthcare already on the tips of everyone’s tongues, it seems like perfect timing that South by Southwest Interactive is bringing Wojcicki to town to give the keynote address on Sunday, March 9. She joins Newspaper Blackout author/designer Austin Kleon and Mythbusters‘ Adam Savage, who were announced earlier this year.
SXSW runs March 7-16, 2014. Follow along with all our coverage leading up to the Fest at austinchronicle.com/sxsw.
This article appears in November 8 • 2013.