UPDATE 2-Google-funded 23andMe starts, offers $999 DNA test

(Recasts; adds details on privacy, research strategies; byline)

By Lisa Baertlein

LOS ANGELES, Nov 19 (Reuters) - 23andMe, a Google-funded online company selling a $999 DNA test, launched on Monday as a kind of genetics-based MySpace or Facebook that also has the more serious aim of allowing medicine someday to target Americans' ills more precisely.

Users sign up for the DNA saliva test online and receive and return it by mail. Four to six weeks later, the results are online, allowing them to learn about their inherited traits, their ancestry and -- likely with the help of a professional to look at the data -- some of their personal disease risks.

The Web site, which takes its name from the 23 pairs of chromosomes that make up each person's genome, says it will display more than a half-million data points in users' genomes in a form they can visualize and understand.

"Compare your genetic blueprint to your friends and family," the site invites.

Down the line, when the company's database is much larger, users will have the option to take part in scientific studies that could help researchers determine such things as who is in danger of having a life-threatening drug reaction or who may be more likely to benefit from a specific cancer treatment.

"The mission of 23andMe is to take the genetic revolution to a new level," said 23andMe co-founder Linda Avey.

"There wasn't an effective way for people to contribute," said fellow founder Anne Wojcicki, who has a background in health-care investing and is married to Google Inc (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) co-founder Sergey Brin.