Genes Of The Rich And Famous

What human genetics needs is a celebrity spokesman.

That's one idea behind a high-profile effort to speed gene research. Billionaire Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft , and CNN talk show host Larry King are among those who have signed on to have their genes sequenced as part of the Archon X Prize.

"Cancer groups have Lance Armstrong," says Marc Hodosh, senior director of the prize. Given the number of people that could be affected, dozens of spokesmen could be needed to help educate the public about what it means to know all about your genes.

An earlier X Prize resulted in the first nongovernment human trip into space. Paul Allen paid for the spaceship; billionaire Richard Branson is now selling trips on a similar vehicle to the public. The Archon X Prize, organized by the same foundation, aims to repeat that success--this time in biology--by spurring teams to develop machines that can read all the DNA of any average person for a price of less than $10,000. The first group to sequence the DNA of 100 people in 10 days will win $10 million.

If the gambit works, it will change the way scientists study genes. Right now, a flood of new genetic variants that predict disease are emerging, thanks to devices that compare thousands of common genetic differences between people. Researchers might learn more about heart disease, cancer and other diseases if they could look at every DNA letter in thousands of people. Someday, people might find out everything about their genes, enabling them to understand more about themselves, including deciding which medicines to take.

That's why the prize, sponsored by Canadian mineral magnate Stewart Blusson, has a second phase. The winner can earn more prize money if the team sequences the DNA of a list of famous people, who will also serve to educate the public about what it is like to have your DNA sequenced. (The prize is working to include some average folks, too.)

Larry King signed up because of his history of heart disease. Stephen Hawking, the physicist famous for envisioning the cosmos while wheelchair-bound, hopes to further research on Lou Gehrig's disease. Billionaire Michael Milken is participating because of his longtime interest in discovering treatments for prostate cancer.

Already, without any prize, the cost of sequencing all of the DNA that makes up the human blueprint has dropped dramatically. The government-funded human genome project ran through $3 billion. Celera Group , the biotech that raced the government to be first to sequence the human genetic code, spent $300 million.

Just today, 454 Life Sciences, a unit of drug giant Roche , announced that it has sequenced all the genetic material of James Watson, who co-discovered the structure of DNA 60 years ago, for less than $1 million. A rival biotech, Illumina , says its new machine could probably do the same job for $100,000. Two other biotechs, Applied Biosystems and Helicos , are planning to roll out their own machines.

But one genome pioneer is taking the opposite approach: imitating the open-source movement of computer science, which argues that technology works best when it is given away for free so that everyone can collaborate on it.

George Church of Harvard Medical School is an adviser to most of the gene-sequencer makers and serves on the board of the Archon X Prize. Now he is designing a new gene sequencer and making the design available free on the Web. Another of his technologies could allow him to skip sequencing the 99% of DNA that does not contain genes.

Church is running a personal genome project that has gathered 10 volunteers who have agreed to have their genetic information made public on the Web. "We need volunteers," he says. "They will handle the body blows that come from knowing everything about their genes."

These people don't have to be famous, but they do have to know a great deal about genetics so they know what they are getting into. The idea is that the project will be a social, as well as medical, experiment.

Esther Dyson, a well-known tech investor, is one participant. "It is going to prove that having this information out there is not like having a voodoo doll that will make you vulnerable to other people destroying you," she says. But she also expects that she and other participants may face problems with health insurers--illustrating exactly why some folks won't want to know what secrets lay in their genes.

This morning, scientists at the National Genome Health Research Institute announced plans to sequence the genes of 1,000 patients with heart disease using the machines being made by Illumina. Patients will be followed for as long as 10 years as scientists try to figure out what individual gene variations mean to heart disease risk.