SERGEY BRIN and Larry Page have ambitious long-term plans for Google’s expansion into biology and genetics through the fusion of science, medicine and technology.
Their goal — via Google, its charitable foundation, and an evolving entity called Google.org — is to give millions of individuals and scientists the information that will lead to healthier and smarter living through the prevention and cure of a wide range of diseases.
Some of this work is already under way, making use of Google’s gifted employees and its unwavering emphasis on innovation, unmatched search capacity, and vast computational resources.
“Too few people in computer science are aware of some of the informational challenges in biology,” said Brin. “We can store an incredible amount of data very cheaply.”
The company is pouring its resources into enhancing the breadth and quality of searches. This involves wholly different methods of searching that may eventually make today’s Google seem primitive.
Brin and Page hope that their efforts will eventually make it possible for people to have access to better information without the limitations and barriers imposed by differences in language, location, internet access and the availability of electrical power.
Brin and Page foresee Google users having access to vast repositories of fresh information, some public and some private. This encompasses films, television, and radio programmes; still images and text; phone calls and other voice communications; educational materials; and data from space.
The pair are also involved in the hunt for clean, renewable-energy sources to power Google and broaden economic growth.
“These guys have a big, compelling vision for what the company is going to do,” said Stanford University president John Hennessy. “They think very hard about the long term.”
One of the most exciting Google projects involves biological and genetic research that could foster important medical breakthroughs. Through this effort, Google may hasten the advent of the era of personalised medicine, in which understanding an individual’s genetic make-up can contribute to the ability of physicians to tailor healthcare treatment.
“Just think of the application of Google to genomics,” said Hennessy. “There are large databases, lots of information, and the need for search.”
Alan Guttmacher at the National Human Genome Research Institute said that Google’s involvement in genetics was particularly meaningful because of its capacity to search and find specific genes and genetic abnormalities that cause diseases. Its massive computing power could be used to analyse vast quantities of data — quantities that scientists in laboratories did not have the capacity to process.
“Until recently, the challenge has been gathering data,” said Guttmacher. “Now the challenge is organising and assessing it. Google-like approaches are the key to doing that.”
Over dinner and plenty of wine in February, Brin discussed the prospects for genetics with Craig Venter, the maverick biologist who decoded the human genome.
Despite millions of dollars in funding and thousands of hours of computing time from America’s federal Department of Energy, Venter needed more help to unlock the molecular mysteries of life. It seemed to him that Google’s mathematicians, scientists, technologists, and computing power had the potential to vault his research forward. He pressed Brin hard to get Google involved.
Also at the dinner at Cibo, an Italian bistro in Monterey, California, was Ryan Phelan, chief executive of DNA Direct. Phelan recalled: “What (Venter) was talking about with Sergey was, ‘how can you use Google to really help access everything at the genetic level?’ Sergey was trying to pull out from Craig how Google could make a difference.”
Not long after the dinner, Brin and Page teamed up with Venter. The biologist got access to Google’s immense computing power. He said this would accelerate analysis of molecular data and significantly increase the likelihood of advances in applied healthcare and basic scientific research.
“We need to use the largest computers in the world,” said Venter. “Larry and Sergey have been excited about our work and about giving us access to their computers and their algorithm guys and scientists to improve the process of analysing data. It shows the broadness of their thinking. Genetic information is going to be the leading edge of information that is going to change the world.”
Over time, Venter said, Google would build up a genetic database, analyse it, and find meaningful correlations for individuals and populations. It is utilising the 30,000 genes discovered by Venter and scientists from the National Institutes of Health when they were racing to beat one another to map the human genome.
Google’s data-mining techniques appear well suited to the formidable challenges posed by analysing the genetic sequence.
“People will be able to log on to a Google site and have the ability to understand things about themselves,” said Venter. “What does it mean to have this variation in genes? What else is known? And instead of having a few elitist scientists doing this and dictating what it means, with Google it would be creating several million scientists.
“Google has empowered individuals to do searches and get information and have things in seconds at their fingertips,” he said. “Where is that more important than understanding our own biology and its connection to disease and behaviour?”
© David Vise 2005
Extracted from The Google Story, by David Vise, published by Macmillan at £14.99. Copies can be ordered for £13.49 with free delivery from Sunday Times Books First on 0870 165 8585
