We Were Kinda Hoping At Least a Punch Was Thrown

At Genetic Future, Daniel MacArthur summarizes a panel discussion given by 23andMe's Linda Avey, deCODEme's Kari Stephansson, and Navigenics' Dietrich Stephan at the Biology of Genomes meeting at Cold Spring Harbor Lab. Navigenics highlighted its focus on disease, 23andMe talked about open information driving genetic research, and deCODEme "played off its research cred," says MacArthur, to compare itself more closely to 23andMe's business model. A discussion followed, which was "nowhere near as hostile as I expected," he says. "I also chatted with both Stephan and Avey after the session — for what it's worth, they're both extremely personable, and there was no overt animosity between any of the three competitors (somewhat to the disappointment of the audience, I suspect)."