Welcome to the future: How Discovery helped DNA mapping move from sci-fi to reality

Marketers love taking about win-win deals. Here’s one that is for real. South Africa’s Discovery Health has become the first company to sign a bulk DNA analysis deal with world famous scientist J. Craig Venter, who “discovered” how to map the human genome. Venter’s well-funded young company Human Longevity Inc needs thousands of DNA samples to create a database large enough to on-sell to the likes of pharma companies. Discovery would love to know more about the four million people it covers in SA and the UK. And the more enlightened of its clients would be delighted to acquire information about their own DNA at a heavily subsidized price. From January, South Africans will be able to sign up, at $250 a pop, with a simple saliva swab. The man who engineered the groundbreaking deal, Discovery’s Jonny Broomberg, took us through how it works and what it all means. Fascinating, even for non-scientists.