Ari Patrinos, the point man for these DOE efforts, is a big fan and heavy user of Google. He turns to it an estimated 50 to 100 times daily, and fully appreciates its potential as a force and a partner in the search for answers to the world's dearth of clean, renewable sources of power. Both DOE and Google, each in its own way, are supporting biological research by Venter and others aimed at solving serious long-term problems.
"Google is getting into the biology business as they have gotten into other fields. I don't think the government has tried to do anything comparable to Google," Patrinos said. "We have been stressing the importance of advanced scientific computing research and information research that Google is helping to enable. It was an alien concept for most biologists until recently. The genome revolution has exploded in the production of vast amounts of data we need to analyze, process, and use. Search engines are extremely important for the biological data we have collected. It is the only way we will be able to exploit this treasure trove. The search engines have become sophisticated enough to identify functional elements of individual genes and proteins. These are not blind searches. There are pieces of this software that are almost like artificial intelligence."
Patrinos happens to live in Rockville, Maryland, next to Dr. Francis Collins, the director of NIH's National Human Genome Research Institute. He also maintains a close working relationship with Venter, and is trusted by all of the various parties. If NIH's primary focus is human health, the emphasis for Patrinos is analyzing the DNA of animals and plants to find fresh ways for bioremediation, the cleaning up of toxic sites, and the development of clean-burning fuels. It was Patrinos, in his basement over beer and pizza, who negotiated the compromise in 2000 that led to the joint announcement at the White House about the mapping of the human genome. Born in Athens, Greece, he earned a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and the astronomical sciences at Northwestern University and holds the formal title of director of the Office of Biological and Environmental Research at the DOE. He is passionate about the fusing of technology and biological research to provide new age answers through Google.
Patrinos says Google has the capacity to provide insights into the function of genes; given the enormous complexity, it is essential to have sufficient computing power to model all of the different operations within the cell. "The wizardry of search engines is that they can race through databases and show relationships and bring to light answers. This is information that can be used by enterprising technology firms or this growing field of industrial and environmental biotechnology. Google is working on their version of it."
And then there are the personal experiences that have made Patrinos a major Google enthusiast. "I have found colleagues I hadn't seen in 40 years through Google. One guy is in Nigeria, one guy is in France and another guy is in Australia. I wouldn't have found them any other way."
Google has other friends in Washington too, and it will need them as it grows larger and branches out. Power and size breed mistrust, so inevitably there are calls from competitors and others for regulation and restrictions. Google has already encountered hostile opposition from some who fear it is trampling on their rights. After publishers raised legal objections, it chose to put a temporary moratorium on its scanning of copyrighted library books. Moreover, given the company's emphasis on gathering information it saves about millions of searchers, as well as its forays into genetics and biology, these far-flung interests will raise concerns about ethics and privacy that have strong political overtones. Sharon Terry, president of the Washington-based Genetic Alliance, is someone Google is likely to have on its side as it does battle in the political trenches.
Terry's journey into genetics began as a parent, when in 1994 her two children were diagnosed with a rare condition that leads to premature aging. She was seeking both authoritative information and other parents who were in the same situation. When Google came online, she used it to mine newsgroups and online bulletin boards. "It exploded how we could connect with other people," she said, adding that her kids are now 16 and 17 years old.
Terry, who holds an advanced degree in religious studies but has no training as a scientist, relies on Google daily to stay abreast of news and information about the disease and related genetic research. Has a group in Hungary posted a new paper on the disease? If so, she finds it and reads it immediately, thanks to Google. "I can get specialized information quickly by using Google," Terry says. "It allows the layperson to come up to speed on specific topics and get into the discussion in ways that I wouldn't otherwise be able to."
In her professional life leading the Genetic Alliance, Terry's goal is to make it the leading clearinghouse for people seeking information about genetics. She is deliberately nonpolitical, positioning the organization in a way that enables her to converse with researchers, policymakers, and private-sector pharmaceutical firms. The Alliance receives frequent questions from individuals looking for information, and Terry and her staff use Google and Google Scholar throughout the workday to help find answers. She remembers how much harder it was a decade ago, when search engines lacked Google's comprehensiveness and ability to rank search results by relevance.
"Nothing else meets the depth of Google to hone in on exactly the right information," Terry said. "Our work is connecting the dots, and Google connects the dots wonderfully. We may meet someone who says 'I have a concern about a certain condition,' and often we do a Google search first. I remember ten years ago when sites didn't have good indexes, and you had to wade through crap to get to the nut you needed. We have grown our organization and ability to do what we need to do exponentially, in a way that is attributable to the Internet and good search engines like Google. I can't imagine Google not existing."
Brin and Page want to make it even easier for Terry to find the information she needs. Their ambitions and at times seemingly crazy ideas go far beyond Google alone. People around the world may see Google and the Internet as one these days, but Brin and Page foresee the potential for human beings and the search engine to grow ever closer.
"Why not improve the brain?" Brin asked. "You would want a lot of compute power. Perhaps in the future, we can attach a little version of Google that you just plug into your brain. We'll have to develop stylish versions, but then you'd have all of the world's knowledge immediately available, which is pretty exciting."
From the book: THE GOOGLE STORY by David A. Vise and Mark Malseed
Copyright © 2005 by David A. Vise
Published by arrangement with The Bantam Dell Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.
The Google Story