• The New York Times, Wednesday, May 23, 2007 11:30 AM

Nepotism, perhaps? In an SEC filing Tuesday, Google revealed a $3.9 million investment in a search service for Anne Wojcicki, wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin. This thing has teeth, however, which means the investment can't really be nepotism; it certainly has synergies with Google's goal of organizing the world's information.

Called 23andMe, the search engine encourages individuals to learn more about their own genetic information, with the goal of creating a resource for understanding one's personal genetics, which the company says creates the potential for "personalized medicine."

In a press statement, Wojcicki, a former health-care industry analyst, said, "Our goal is to allow individuals to gain deeper insights into their ancestry, genealogy and inherited traits and, ultimately, the option to work together to advance the overall understanding of the human genome."

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