23andMe named Invention of the Year by Time | Hacker News Reader

23andMe named Invention of the Year by Time

time.com

36 pointsruss20 comments

Tesla > 23andMe

Nothing against 23andMe it's just not going to effect the world in the near term the same way Tesla has and will in the next few years...

Give the award to 23andMe when it's actually effected our society. As of right now you can already get tested for any number of genetic disorders... and you and your significant other can be tested before you have kids to see what sort of risks you may have. I just don't see why 23andMe is that different. Maybe someone can explain what makes it great?

Meanwhile the Tesla is beyond proof of concept. It's fast, handles well and can be recharged enough to make sense if you are commuting. It's a real contender for those that drive Porsches, BMWs, etc to work. Add in their future plans to create new models that are more affordable and roomy.

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I'd give 23andMe the nod over the Tesla because the former, at $1000 for the basic kit, is accessible to just about anybody who's interested enough to save up for a while: it's a disruptive technology. The latter is more of a high-end curiousity for those well-off enough to indulge in it, it's an incremental increase in both performance and price over previous electric cars. I'd love to trade in my BMW for a Tesla, but it's a 12 year old M3, and to get similar performance from an electric car I'd have to pay ~8 times as much money. That's not disruptive or revolutionary.

>at $1000 for the basic kit

Actually, 23andme dropped the price to $399.

Tesla is a glimpse into the future of an oil-free world. There's very little more important than that at this point.

I think it needs to be a crime to analyze someone's genes without their permission. I can see the potential for abuse. The article mentions that a significant other might ask for genetic testing before marriage. Why would they need to ask? They could just steal some genetic material during the night.

Also, these gene companies don't seem to be forthcoming about genetics. There is a lot that we still don't understand. Even if you inherit a gene that is linked to a disease, you may not necessarily express that gene. Genetic expression is very poorly understood right now.

I don't think your last point is very fair. See e.g.:

https://www.23andme.com/gen101/

as well as the very long disclaimer you're given before you can actually sign up for a 23andme screening.

Our divorce rate is proof that people don't tend to make marriage decisions that rationally. I'd bet most don't even do basic blood tests, let alone consider genetics.

Your point was very clearly shown in the first part of the movie "Idiocracy". Very well expressed!

and #2 was the Tesla Roadster. Very cool for both of them, but ... do these really qualify as "inventions"?

AFAIK, 23andme didn't invent genetic testing and Tesla didn't invent the electric car. They made it a consumer service and they made it sexy (respectively).

Maybe I'm being to strict with the word.

Seems like Time is gunning for the Wired mag subscriber demographic. Cool products, but I would expect a little different from Time. But times change, maybe this is the new hipper, cooler Time mag ;).

That may well be the plan. I heard on NPR a few days ago that Time Corp. just initiated a large round of layoffs. Out with the old, in with the new?

Given how news print publications are moving these days, I'd say it's probably just out with the old.

"invention" is a tricky concept. Edison didn't invent the concept of the light bulb - but he did invent a particular version of it that was commercially viable. I don't know the facts, but possibly both 23 and Tesla Corp. developed technological improvements that facilitated commercial viability.

Agreed.. 23andme could maybe win "commercialization of the year"..? But that's still stretching it.

If you're going to gripe about business plans constituting inventions, how about hulu.com at 4? It's enought to make the LHC at number 5 really want to create a large black hole.

Gattaca!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gattaca

I don't know about the LHC. It wasn't invented this year, and it didn't even finish completion. It should either have been named years ago or next year when it actually starts running, and either way it should be #1.

23andMe isn't even an invention, it's an innovation at best and even that's a stretch.

What do you consider an invention?

Is creating a new breed of cat an invention? What about a car that runs on water? What about a duck-horse? I think we want to reserve 'invention' for only the out-of-nowhere, bizarre creations.

Definitely yes on the duck-horse. I can't stop imagining how it would look. Thanks a lot.

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