Recently, Sergey Brin, a 35 year-old Russian émigré who comes to work in T-shirts, jeans and sneakers, revealed a secret about himself on his personal blog that may be important to you. With slicked-back hair and fair complexion that make him look ten years younger, he could easily be mistaken for your typical Starbucks trainee. But a quick Google search identifies Sergey Brin as the fourth youngest billionaire in the world and fifth richest man in the United States. That quick Google search increased Brin’s fortune since he happens to be a cofounder of Google Inc.

The secret Brin told the world was that he has a genetic mutation that increases his chances of contracting Parkinson’s disease later in life. Parkinson’s disease, a progressive degenerative central nervous system disorder, currently affects 1% of people over 65, with a mean age of onset between 55 and 60 (some are stricken much earlier). As it progresses, it causes tremors and patients experience difficulty with everyday activities including walking, speech and swallowing. Both Mr. Brin’s mother and aunt suffer from Parkinson’s disease.

Until recently Parkinson’s was not thought to be heritable since there was no obvious pattern running in families. That thinking has been changed by genetic mapping, a technology that will soon be commonly available and inexpensive. Brin acknowledges the implications of his results aren’t yet clear because it’s still uncertain which patients with the mutation will ultimately develop Parkinson’s. Studies suggest having the mutation does confer a much higher chance of developing Parkinson’s for him than for the average person, though the exact probability is not known. In addition, it is unknown whether the risk can be minimized, or alternatively, increased by cofactors such as diet, lifestyle, or environmental exposures.
The mutation was discovered when he took a mapping test of his DNA offered by a company called 23andME. (Coincidentally, 23andME is partner to Google and was cofounded by Brin’s wife. Silicon Valley legend is that Brin and his partner started Google in her sister’s garage after leaving Stanford in the mid 1990’s). Brin said he didn’t intend to have his DNA mapped to check for a Parkinson’s risk but was glad to have the information.
Here’s why his secret is important. Brin has taken a proactive approach to the news. “I know early in my life something I am substantially predisposed to. I now have the opportunity to adjust my life to reduce those odds. I also have the opportunity to perform and support research into this disease long before it may affect me. And, regardless of my own health it can help my family members as well as others. I feel fortunate to be in this position. Until the fountain of youth is discovered, all of us will have some conditions in our old age only we don’t know what they will be. I have a better guess than almost anyone else for what ills may be mine - and I have decades to prepare for it.”

Many people would, quite understandably, elect not to know they carry the genes of a serious disease that may manifest itself in the future. Yet, Brin’s revelation about his personal DNA is a watershed moment in 21st century medicine. With a personal fortune of billions of dollars, Google’s immense resources, and the support of the scientific community, he can explore the frontiers of medical genetics including how diseases are expressed through genes, which patients will respond to specific medications or experience serious side-effects, and whether there are ways to prevent the diseases patients are predisposed to - in effect, how to change their destiny.

Part of Sergey Brin’s quest is to change his own destiny. It is a timeless theme of literary and cinematic fiction. In classic Greek literature, Oedipus Rex was told his future but still couldn’t prevent his tragic fate. In contemporary fiction, heroes with extraordinary powers like Superman valiantly attempt to alter the future to rescue people. Now in real life, scientists will observe, and the rest of the world may benefit, from Sergey Brin’s case history to see whether genetic destiny can be modified.
The plight of the young billionaire with slick-backed hair recalls that of a fictional wealthy man who was also shown a glimpse of his future, Charles Dickens’ elderly Ebenezer Scrooge. After Scrooge had his own ignominious end revealed in The Christmas Carol, he vowed to change his ways – and in doing so, change his future and that of those around him. Scrooge presaged Brin’s current efforts by musing, “Men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if they persevered in, they must lead. But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change.”

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