"People will be able to log on to a Google site using search capacities and have the ability to understand things about themselves as they change in real time," Venter said. "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 to the world 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 went on. "Where is that more important than understanding our own biology and its connection to disease and behavior? With Google, you will be able to get an understanding of your own genes. Google has the capacity to do all of this, and it is one of the discussions I have had with Larry and Sergey. They are the right people to undertake this." Stewart Brand, a technologist and futurist who was also at the dinner where Brin and Venter discussed Google and genetics, described the alliance of these mavericks as "a match made in heaven."
Venter may have discussed matters with Brin first, but he bonded with Larry Page too. In April of 2005, Page invited Venter to join him as a member of the board of directors of a foundation encouraging a private space race. The X Prize Foundation is fashioned after the Orteig Prize won by Charles Lindbergh in 1927 for his New York-to-Paris flight. Its stated mission is to promote competitions to foster breakthroughs in space travel and related technologies. The foundation shares something in common with Google: innovation through small, highly motivated groups of bright people who are given access to immense resources.
A few weeks after Google went public in the summer of 2004, Mojave Aerospace Ventures Team, led by Burt Rutan and funded by Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, flew the world's first private spacecraft to the edge of space and won the $10 million Ansari X Prize, cementing the foundation's model for innovation through competition. Upon joining the board in January 2005, Page said he was "excited to be working with the foundation to foster additional breakthroughs." Venter said he was honored and pleased when Page asked him to join the distinguished group.
"They're trying to foster competition to get people into space," Page explained. "I have a good friend who really wants to go to Mars, and so he decided he should build a rocket company. He has been pretty successful about it. I just sent him an email, and I asked him for some stats. 'So what is the theoretical cost of getting a pound of something into space?' It's basically the fuel that powers the rocket into orbit. The Space Shuttle costs about $10,000 to $20,000 per pound that it carries up. What do you think the theoretical lower limit is? It's actually about $10 to $20 per pound to move something into orbit. For you or your body, that's probably the cost of an expensive airplane ticket, right? Do you think someday we might figure out how to get close to that? I think we could. That would change things a lot and might get us to Mars."
Back on earth, Page also foresees greater involvement for himself and Google in causes that work to relieve hunger and poverty through entrepreneurship, self-reliance, and philanthropy. He has taken a particular interest in programs that provide small bank loans to people in developing nations. "Mohammed Yunus in Bangladesh has given out over $2 billion now, $160 at a time, to poor people and been very successful," he said. "The money gets returned and it is a functioning business." He added, "I believe eliminating poverty is something we could do. Bono is actually more eloquent than I am on this, so I'll read you a quote from him: 'Africa is not a cause. It is an emergency.'"
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Among the other innovations that Sergey Brin and Larry Page would like to see Google and other firms achieve in the future is the production of affordable, clean-burning fuel that does not harm the environment. The source for this power is likely to be the sun. This area of research is important to Page, who for years has focused on the enormous quantities of electricity needed to power Google's network of hundreds of thousands of computers.
While it is possible that some of Venter's biological research may lead to discovery of alternative fuels, Brin, Larry Page, and his brother, Carl Page Jr., are investors in Nanosolar, Inc., a privately held California company that is developing solar cells for commercial, residential, and utility use. Nanosolar specializes in "thinfilm solar cells"; the advantage of these cells is that they can be printed on plastic sheets that can be integrated into roofs, walls, and other surfaces transparently, eliminating the typical solar cell eyesore. The company has a $10.5 million grant from the federal Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which provided funding for the creation of the Internet.
Given that one of Google's potential limitations on growth is the availability and cost of electricity, the involvement of Brin and Page in Nanosolar and in other energy-related experiments and investments is a logical extension of their future plans for Google and Google.org. The pair also plan to fund wireless Web access in various locations around the world. CEO Eric Schmidt sees his company's reach ultimately extending to every place on Earth. "When you look at the Amazon and you say, 'Why aren't there any Internet users?' it's because there is no power," he explains. "And people are working on this. So we'll get them all, even the people in the trees. It's just a matter of getting them power and some kind of a device."
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While Brin, Page, and Google search for new sources of energy, the U.S. Department of Energy is investing heavily in genetics and biotechnology. The DOE is backing Craig Venter and related scientific research at an $80 million annual rate to support its own foray into genomics. The department's career employees are keenly aware of the role Google may play in contributing to solutions to some of the earth's biggest and most complex challenges.
The Google Story