Anne Wojcicki

If consumers were more empowered, they would take more responsibility for their health.

I still meet old-school scientists who are like, 'Oh honey, women aren't good at science.' You kind of dismiss them as insane.

There's enough data showing that the fitter you are, the better you eat, the more likely you are to stay healthy longer.

We have been trained not to think about our health care until there's a problem.

There's massive government initiatives going around the world, and you see that there's a real enthusiasm for genetics.

I like company lunches because I think going out wastes valuable time; plus, a lot of good ideas come up over lunch.

I think it's important to have flexibility to work wherever is best for you. I actually encourage people to work at the cafe - or from home or wherever works best for them.

My parents were passionate about what they did, very cheap, and very focused on doing good in society.

I think life is pretty awesome.

I think it is absolutely crazy in this day and age that I have to go through a trial and error method to see if my child is allergic to an antibiotic or peanuts. I should just know.

Our approach to medicine is very 19th-century. We are still in the dark ages. We really need to get to the molecular level so that we are no longer groping about in the dark.

I have always been interested in health care and doing something that is dramatic.

The consumer is really underutilized in health care.

Some genetic variants can be informative about one's risk for Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.

I think there's a point to regulating, because there are snake oil companies.

I'm action-oriented.

We should revel in tons and tons and tons of ideas. Some of them will manifest and lead to a drug discovery, and some will not.

As a parent, the most responsible thing I can do is get as much information about my children as possible so I can then think through how I can make them as healthy as possible.

I do believe at some point in time everyone will be genotyped at birth.

I guess I'm just fiercely independent.

Being able to do research in a real-time way is the way research needs to be done in the future.

We don't have enough data about how lifestyle decisions impact our health.

23andme is very independent and committed to focusing on transparency.

Nobody can quantify for you what's the impact of eating fiber every day, for instance. We can say we think it's good. But some people might say 'Oh, it reduces your risk of colon cancer by 20%, some people might say it reduces your risk by 25%.'

We all want our genetic information. Why would you not want genetic information?

TIVO was a big shift in how people watched TV, but everyone understood the concept of TV. No one really understands the concept of, well why would I want my genetic information?

Genetic testing in the future is going to be seen as critical as testing your cholesterol.

I usually start my day when my kids wake up.

I had a very unusual childhood in that I grew up on the Stanford campus and I never moved.

I think the biggest problem in clinical trials is that they are underpowered. And that fundamentally, the studies are just too small.

Once a week, I might stay late at work. It's sometimes very efficient to work until 7 P.M. - and then come home to kids who are clean and ready for bed. Those days are good.

If you don't read it, you don't know. I mean, that's why I have a PR team. They read it and tell me if there's something, and that keeps you focused. I know my family and me well enough; why do I need to read about myself? I'm not going to change, I'm very stubborn in this way. I am what I am.

It's up to all of us, the consumers, to take charge of our health. It's almost like voting. It's your responsibility.

I think that the idea of people wanting to steal your genome remains a little bit in the world of science fiction. It's a new technology, and it's new science that people are becoming familiar with. It's critical for us to do everything we can to enable the privacy level that people want.

You may not know your complete family history, but the reality is everyone has something, and as you get older, you start to worry about these things more. Health is not sort of like a 6-month project. Health is a lifetime accumulation of behaviors.

I think there's a lot of misunderstanding about genetic information and what you can and cannot learn. One of the things we try to do is educate individuals that knowing information is empowering.

I think we're just scratching the surface. One of the most exciting aspects of 23andMe is that we're enabling you to watch a revolution unfold live during your lifetime, and I think that the decoding of the genome, in my opinion, is the most fascinating discovery of our lifetime, and you get to be part of it.

People are used to dealing with risk. You are told if you smoke, you are at higher risk of lung cancer. And I think people are able to also understand, when they are told they are a carrier for a genetic disease, that is not a risk to them personally but something that they could pass on to children.

A lot of genetic testing hasn't been integrated into healthcare because it has been expensive. I want to make people realise that they have the ability to be in charge of their own health.

I carry my iPad and laptop with me everywhere.

For people who want to be proactive about their health, there is a lot of information that we can provide. If you are going to have children, I think you have a responsibility to know if you are carrying anything. A lot of people tend to do the testing once they are pregnant.

One of the big drivers for me is that health care is a very elitist system. As much as we try to make it free and democratic for all, the reality is that it's expensive and not all therapies are accessible to all people. So I have been very focused on making sure that we democratize genetic information so it's available to everyone.

My sister learned she was a carrier for a recessive disease, Bloom syndrome, late in one of her pregnancies. I remember the panicked call and the weeks of worry as she and her husband awaited his test results; if he was also a carrier, this meant their daughter had a one in four chance of being born with the disorder.

It's worth knowing more about the complicated environmental and genetic factors that could explain why traumatic brain injuries lead to long-term disabilities in some people and not in others.

It's not just professional athletes and soldiers who are at risk from traumatic brain injury. More than 1.7 million people a year sustain a traumatic brain injury, and about 50,000 of them die each year, according the Centers for Disease Control. There are both emotional and financial costs from these injuries.

April 25th is DNA Day. I know, you probably had no idea.

There's nothing worse than walking into a hospital and seeing people sick and miserable and having a horrible treatment.

Billions of dollars have been put into genetic research.

A few small changes in your DNA can turn your eyes blue, make you lactose intolerant or put some curl in your hair.

I first heard about 'genes' when I was six years old. At dinner one night, I heard my mom tell my sister, 'It's in your genes.'