Google Co-founder Sergey Brin Starts Blogging

Google co-founder Sergey Brin has started a blog, candidly telling of being at risk for Parkinson's Disease and plugging his wife's (Anne Wojcicki) genetic testing start-up firm called 23andMe.com in California. 23andMe is derived from 23 pairs of chromosomes.

To make it short, 23andMe founded by Wojcicki and Linda Avey two years ago, offers genotyping for a price of $399 per person and look like Sergey is promoting his wife's business. Money is never enough, huh.

While Brin is no stranger to news-making webcasts and online press announcements, he made a blogging debut Thursday by sharing personal musings in a post at the Blogger weblogging website Google bought in early 2003.

Brin wrote of his mother being diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease and how testing by 23andMe, a company started by his wife Anne Wojcicki, shows he has a gene mutation that "markedly" increases his chances of getting the illness.

"This leaves me in a rather unique position," Brin wrote.

"I now have the opportunity to adjust my life to reduce those odds. I also have the opportunity to perform and support research into this disease long before it may affect me."

Brin told of working with The Parkinson's Institute and the Michael J. Fox Foundation to combat the disease and provided links to the organizations' websites.

"I feel fortunate to be in this position," Brin wrote.

"Until the fountain of youth is discovered, all of us will have some conditions in our old age, only we don't know what they will be. I have a better guess than almost anyone else for what ills may be mine and I have decades to prepare for it."

Brin wrote of comparing his genes with those of relatives and of checking whether his DNA links him to others with his family name.

Founded by Wojcicki and Linda Avey two years ago, California-based 23andMe offers genotyping for a price of 399 per person.

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What is 23andMe?

23andMe is a web-based service that helps customers read and understand their DNA. Customers submit a small saliva sample that is processed using a custom DNA chip. The resulting data is then presented on a secure website using interactive tools that offer information about ancestry, inherited traits and disease risk.