Having said snarky things about the rich this morning (some of my best friends…, etc.—though in this case, NOT ENOUGH), I am glad to redress the balance by linking to this post on the Gene Expression website defending the “celebrity genome”–i.e. approving of the phenomenon, now under way, of people who can afford to–think eight digits–having their genomes sequenced.

Can anyone think of a major technology that was not first used by the rich? Cars, comupters, the internet, air travel, any major medical technology– all of these things were first available to those with the money to buy them. After the frontier has been broken and the technology proven, it will be improved, made more cost effective, and eventually be available to the more general public. In the article, a comparison is made between sequencing your genome and getting a private space flight, with the implication that both are ridiculous luxuries for the rich. The explcit goal of the X Prize for space flight, of course, is ‘to make space travel safe, affordable and accessible to everyone through the creation of a personal spaceflight industry.’ The same principle is at work here.

I’m basically fine with this, although….. LARRY KING?