We recently sat down with Chia Hwu, community manager at 23andMe (www.23andme.com), to talk about this high profile venture-backed startup (backers include Google, Mohr Davidow Ventures, Genentech and New Enterprise Associates) and its mission to become “the world’s most trusted source of personal genetic information”. We discussed her role as community manager and the opportunities and challenges she sees ahead for the company as well as some of the company’s hiring needs and the type of people who would succeed at the company along with many other topics.

The entire interview can be found on 23andMe’s ChubbyBrain company profile on the “Inside Info” tab which can be found here.  Excerpts of the interview with Chia are below as well, but we highly recommend you check out the company’s profile to learn more about 23andMe and to read the entire interview with Chia. For more on Chia and her job at 23andMe, you can also visit here.

Briefly, describe 23andMe and its products/services, what drove its development and what problem it is trying to solve?

23andMe was started by our two co-founders, Ann Wojcicki and Linda Avey. They both wanted to solve healthcare problems and look at inefficiencies that exist for large scale studies that are not being done. They also wanted to give people insights into their own genetic information.

As a result, part of our slogan is to democratize genetics. Our tagline is Genetics just got personal. So you can come onto our site and order a kit and get the service and what happens is that we analyze your DNA for your genetic predispositions for certain types of health & traits and we’ll also give you your ancestry as well.

Is this a service that was formerly done at hospitals or by doctors or is this something that is in a sense brand new?

In a sense, this is brand new. Before this, you could get little pieces of your data but not a genome wide look at different SNPs (pronounced “snips”). This is not a sequence. Some people get confused sometimes and think we sequence their genome but we don’t. We look at SNPs or single-nucleotide polymorphisms.

Some of the traits and conditions that we look at from these SNPs are age-related. Things like macular degeneration, breast cancer risk, Celiac’s disease, colorectal cancer and we also look at some fun things like eye color and whether or not you flush when you drink alcohol.

Who are your competitors and what is the differentiator for 23andMe?

The two other companies that will also offer genome-wide scans are Navigenics (www.navigenics.com) and Decode (www.decode.com). Decode is in Iceland while Navigenics is actually also in the Bay area. Navigenics is more on the clinical side and they’ll give you genetic counseling along with it. They don’t give you the other side of it like the ancestry and other fun things that you can get on our site. Decode does do both, but I can’t speak too much to Decode as I haven’t looked at their site as much as I have for Navigenics.

How big is the company at present?

Right now, we’re at 60 employees. I can’t speak to revenue.

And amongst the 60, from a functional expertise perspective, how does it breakdown. Is it predominantly people on the science side or is it heavily marketing/business development oriented?

We actually have a very small business development team and are actually seeking a marketing director. It’s actually a lot of scientists. I think a good portion of the company is bioinformatics people who have PhDs.

In looking at the company’s website, it seems like you are hiring in many different areas. For those interested in 23andMe, perhaps you could give a sense for the company culture and who are the types of people that will succeed at the company?

In terms of open positions, we’re looking for someone in marketing which is a big focus area. And there are a few positions in product. We’re really looking for a products writer and a UI designer.

Given you guys are in Mountain View, from a cultural perspective, would you say it’s like a web company or given your subject matter, is the culture different?

It actually is an interesting mix. We have a lot of PhDs who have come from academia so it’s not the typical Bay area startup. It definitely has the casual feel and it is very fast-paced and fast-moving with a science twist.

For some of the positions you mentioned (marketing, engineering, products), what types of people would do well at the company?

People who really really believe in what we’re doing. That is something we look for. People who are passionate about what they do. I guess the biggest thing would be to have people who are very curious and would be willing to come in and learn a new industry.

It’s so new that sometimes we have trouble wrapping our minds around it. We have discussions about so what does this mean if we offer people all of this data? For the average person, is it useful, is it good?

Tell us a bit about yourself, your background, what brought you to 23andMe and what your job of community manager entails?

I primarily interface with members and people curious about the company. I primarily do that through social media – things like Twitter and Facebook and sometimes even LinkedIn. Also, other genealogy/genetic forums. There is actually a group of people very interested in learning about their deep genealogy which our service helps with. And they do their own research so I interface with those people as well.

We also have our forums on our site where people can come on and where people can look at what other people who are part of the service are talking about. For example, there are people who’ve started an adoption thread. A lot of people on the site are adopted and wanted to find out more about themselves. So this is one way for them to find out about their predispositions especially since they don’t have a family history.

The layperson may not understand the results that they are getting back and may draw errant conclusions from these results. In the forums and in the results, is part of the team at 23andMe moderating or making it clear what the data means?

We do make it clear that we are not in the diagnostic business. We say that on the website. You should not use our test to make major health decisions.

Your site says that the purpose of 23andMe tests is for research, education and fun. Let’s talk about the research component? You are synthesizing a lot of data from many individuals so how is that being used and what are some of the focus areas right now?

In terms of 23andWe, we just launched a very big Parkinson’s initiative. We’ve asked people who’ve been diagnosed by their doctor as having Parkinson’s to take part in the study at a greatly reduced price. It is $25 instead of $399 and this is possible because of the generosity of Sergey Brin who is helping to fund the study. Basically, we’re asking those who’ve been diagnosed to take the 23andMe test and answer questions about their disease and disease progression. We’re hoping to find some interesting correlations between those who have Parkinson’s and those who don’t have Parkinson’s. So those without Parkinson’s in our community are the controls.

You guys are also still figuring out this new industry, but in its early days, what is the ultimate goal for the company or even in your role, how would you define success in the next few years? Where would you like to be in the next 2 to 3 years?

We’re definitely looking into more studies. We want to do more advanced research in different areas. There are also some things that are the fun parts of basic research that may never become anything. But for example, you are not going to get NIH to fund a handedness study based on genetics but we are looking at it. Essentially, is there a genetic correlation of being right handed /left handed or right-footed, left-footed or right-eyed/ left-eyed? So these are very basic basic research questions that would probably never get funding. Perhaps they shouldn’t because there are other things to solve like cures for cancer but we can do that with our platform if the people who are part of our service are willing to answer these questions, we might be able to solve these interesting questions about what it is to be human.

From your perspective and your work as a community manager, what worries you or keep you up at night?

Having a community is always a very interesting thing. Especially one that is very passionate. And we definitely have a lot of very passionate members of our service. Right now, the level of discourse on our community is amazing. We have a lot of very well-informed people who are posting and talking to each other about what they’re finding out. It’s been an amazing experience.

The thing that keeps me up at night at times is I worry sometimes about whether there is going to be a big growth in the community or not. I like the way it is small as it’s a great place – a virtual place but a great place to be. To keep that homey, friendly feeling as the community grows is something I worry about.

Essentially, is the community limited to those who take the test or can anyone become part of the community?

Right now, people can look at the community. Anyone who creates a login can do this. But in order to post, you actually have to be part of the service or come in through Ancestry – through our partnership with Ancestry.com.

One question looking at the current economy is that people would say that a personal genomics test like what 23andMe is offering would fall into the highly discretionary bucket. What impacts are you seeing to your business and the ability to get people to spend $399 for this type of information?

Well, knock on wood; we’re not having any issues. But we’re definitely here for the long-term.

To change subjects, given that you are in the belly of the beast in Mountain View, what are some other area startups – healthcare oriented or not that you admire and why?

Oh you are going to try to make me determine which one of my friend’s initiatives I should plug.

I have a friend who has a service called Medgle. You know how everyone Google’s their symptoms to play Dr. Google. My friend Ash Damle wrote a program with a few doctors that you can put in very specific information like your age, your sex, what is going on, how long it has been going on using a lot of pull down menus. And it will give you a suggested list of things that might be wrong that you can take to your doctor and say “These are the symptoms I’ve put in and here is what could be wrong with me. What do you think?”

And the final question – if you were not at 23andMe right now, what would you be doing?

I’d actually probably be a project manager at a big pharmaceutical company. I came from biotech and so my background is I have 2 degrees in chemistry. Most people ask me how I went from organic chemist to web startup and what is it like. And I must say I enjoy the pace a lot.

Your last point is an interesting one. So is 23andMe a web startup?

It’s definitely closer to a web startup than a traditional biotech. Traditional biotechs work on very very long timelines. So you’re looking at “Oh we might have something to market in 10 years. Maybe”. And you know, 7 years is lightening fast.

We’re mostly a website. Essentially, that is how we deliver all of your results – via the web.

Learn more about 23andMe and read the full interview with Chia by visiting 23andMe’s company profile and going to the company’s Inside Info tab.