Google hopes to develop a wristband that would carry out non-invasive blood tests
Google is aiming to diagnose cancers, impending heart attacks or strokes and other diseases, at a much earlier stage than is currently possible.
The company is working on technology that combines disease-detecting nanoparticles, which would enter a patient's bloodstream via a swallowed pill, with a wrist-worn sensor.
The idea is to identify slight changes in the person's biochemistry that could act as an early warning system.
The work is still at an early stage.
Early diagnosis is the key to treating disease. Many cancers, such as pancreatic, are detected only after they have become untreatable and fatal.
There are marked differences between cancerous and healthy tissues.
Google's ambition is to constantly monitor the blood for the unique traces of cancer, allowing diagnosis long before any physical symptoms appear.
The project is being conducted by the search company's research unit, Google X, which is dedicated to investigating potentially revolutionary innovations.
Mr Conrad, seen on the left, joined Google X as head of Life Sciences in 2013
It marks the firm's latest shift into the medical sector following its work on glucose-measuring contact lenses for patients with diabetes and the acquisition of a start-up that developed a spoon to counteract the tremors caused by Parkinson's disease.
Google has also bought stakes in Calico, an anti-ageing research company, and 23andMe, which offers personal genetic-testing kits.
Nanoparticles
The diagnostic project is being led by Dr Andrew Conrad, a molecular biologist who previously developed a cheap HIV test that has become widely used.
"What we are trying to do is change medicine from reactive and transactional to proactive and preventative," he told the BBC.
"Nanoparticles... give you the ability to explore the body at a molecular and cellular level."
Google is designing a suite of nanoparticles which are intended to match markers for different conditions.
They could be tailored to stick to a cancerous cell or a fragment of cancerous DNA.
Or they could find evidence of fatty plaques about to break free from the lining of blood vessels. These can cause a heart attack or stroke if they stop the flow of blood.
Another set would constantly monitor chemicals in the blood.
High levels of potassium are linked to kidney disease. Google believes it will be possible to construct porous nanoparticles that alter colour as potassium passes through.
"Then [you can] recall those nanoparticles to a single location - because they are magnetic - and that location is the superficial vasculature of the wrist, [where] you can ask them what they saw," said Dr Conrad.
Unattached nanoparticles would move differently in a magnetic field from those clumped around a cancer cell.
In theory, software could then provide a diagnosis by studying their movements.
As part of the project, the researchers have also explored ways of using magnetism to concentrate the nanoparticles temporarily in a single area.
The tech company's ambition is ultimately to create a wristband that would take readings of the nanoparticles via light and radio waves one or more times a day.
Prof Paul Workman, chief executive of the Institute of Cancer Research in London, told the BBC News website: "In principle this is great. Any newcomers with new ideas are welcome in the field.
"There is an urgent need for this. If we can detect cancer or other diseases earlier, then we can intervene with either lifestyle changes or treatment.
"How much of this proposal is dream versus reality is impossible to tell because it is a fascinating concept that now needs to be converted to practice."
His team at the institute is investigating cancer cells and cancer DNA in the blood as new methods of diagnosis and planning treatment.
He did warn Google that a diagnosis could increase anxiety and lead to unnecessary treatment, so there needed to be "very careful and rigorous analysis" before this type of blood monitoring could be used widely.
The scheme is being made public because Google is now seeking to establish partnerships.
But Dr Conrad sought to play down the idea that his firm wanted to run a search tool for the human body, alongside the one it already offers for the internet.
"We are the inventors of the technology but we have no intentions of commercialising it or monetising it in that way," he said.
"We will license it out and the partners will take it forward to doctors and patients.
"These are not consumer devices. They are prescriptive medical devices, and you know that doctor-patient relationships are pretty privileged and would not involve Google in any way."
Analysis: James Gallagher, health editor
From searching the internet to searching your blood, Google certainly has high ambitions. But is it feasible?
The basic principles are sound and mirror the work already taking place around the world.
Many research groups are looking at bits of cancer floating in the blood as a better way of diagnosing the disease and also to assess which tumours are more aggressive.
But Google will have to address concerns around "false positives", when healthy people are told they are ill.
These have plagued the PSA test for prostate cancer, as PSA levels can soar even when cancer is absent.
There is also the issue of "over-diagnosis". Who needs treating even if a condition is discovered?
There is continuing controversy around breast cancer screening: for every life saved, three women have invasive treatment for a cancer that would never have proved fatal.
Screening the body for disease is littered with dangers, and if it is not done carefully, it could make hypochondriacs out of all of us.
The nanoparticle project is the latest so-called "moonshot" to originate from Google X.
Other schemes include the firm's driverless car effort and Project Loon, an attempt to provide internet access to remote areas via a network of high-altitude weather balloons.
WATCH: Google X "captain of moonshots" Astro Teller explains why he does not fear failure
While such ideas have the potential to make money, there is also a high risk of failure, and Google X acknowledges that several of its ideas have been ditched before being made public.
One analyst commented that its parent was in a rare position to make such investments.
"Under normal circumstances this is the kind of thing that would worry investors because such projects are too long-term and the miss rate is too high," said Cyrus Mewawalla, from CM Research.
"But because Google's core search business is currently so strong, shareholders are not worried at the moment and are allowing the firm to take a gamble."
Analysis: Leo Kelion, technology desk editor
Google's diagnostic project may never come to fruition, but its significance lies in the fact it represents part of a wider push by the firm into health tech.
Bearing in mind this is already a crowded sector, it begs the question: why?
The search firm denies that it wants to run its own diagnosis service, with all the privacy headaches that would entail, but the patents it creates along the way could prove lucrative.
No doubt the fact that co-founder and Google X chief Sergey Brin has been told that a gene mutation has increased his likelihood of contracting Parkinson's has also focused efforts.
And the company clearly believes its expertise in "big data" analysis and its freedom to focus on giant leaps forward, rather than incremental steps, plays to its advantages.
It's worth remembering that another much hyped health idea, Google Flu Trends - which aimed to predict the spread of the virus based on internet searches - has been dubbed a failure by some after researchers said it had overestimated the number of cases in 100 out of 108 weeks.
And US health watchdogs banned Google-backed 23andme from selling its genetic screening kits last year.
On the other hand, Google's "smart lens" for diabetics shows promise, with Swiss firm Novartis stepping up to license the technology in July.
And the forthcoming Android Fit platform, designed to harness data from other apps and wearables, has a good chance of success given the huge number of people using the operating system.
![[ 落實綠能 谷歌在台拼了!! 與工業局台電商討 計劃加碼投資在地發展 ] （10/15/2014 蘋果日報/綠色和平台灣網站）
（蕭文康╱台北報導）針對日前綠色和平組織點名Google台灣資料中心使用綠色能源比率偏低一事，Google全球資料中心副總裁Joe Kava表示，正持續與政府討論如何將更多再生能源的技術在台灣落實，在遵守台灣現行法令情況下，Google無法直接購買再生能源供應資料中心使用，但仍積極找出具有創意及適用於台灣方案。
去年Google宣布台灣資料中心正式啟用、並加碼投資金額至6億美元（約183.6億元），今年底Google亞洲最大的資料中心即將滿周歲，Joe Kava昨親自訪台並分享Google台灣資料中心最新情況及未來使用綠能規劃等。
受限台灣法令
Joe Kava指出，Google在其他市場取得再生能源方式都保持高度彈性，並樂見台灣也能採取類似的各種方式，例如Google會和獨立電力供應商簽署再生能源的長期購買契約或與大型電力公司合作，確保再生能源供給與運送。Google也和台灣工業局及台電持續討論各種方式，但不是馬上能解決。
對未來在台投資綠能規劃上，Joe Kava強調，現階段無法公布在台灣再生能源投資金額，但可確認的是，希望未來有機會使用上述方式，在台灣增加可使用的綠色能源，提高Google台灣資料中心的再生能源使用率。
高層人事異動
另外，外傳Google有意在彰化加碼投資，Joe Kava昨未證實也未否認，強調投資6億美元是很大投資計劃，台灣資料中心發展一直都在成長及進度上，同時找到新主管Google亞太區硬體管理部資深總監Randll First，將填補科技部長張善政離職後位置，Randll First將常駐台灣代表，對台灣重視。
招募人才原則上希望是找在資料中心附近的人，願意留在當地，但找不到人時會擴大搜尋範圍如通訊人才可能會在大台北、台中等地尋找，同時會找不同背景的人來，如電工、機電、安全及環保相關的人，Joe Kava未透露現在總員工數多少，但他這次來台發現團隊變大及出現許多新面孔，代表台灣資料中心持續在成長。
<Google台灣彰化資料處理中心小檔案>
地點：彰化彰濱工業區
落成：2013年12月11日
面積：15公頃
投資：初期3億美元，未來再投資3億美元，合計6億美元
地位：Google亞洲最大資料中心
員工數：逾60人，持續增加中
能源運作：採夜間降溫及熱能儲存系統，較傳統資料中心節能50%
資料來源：記者採訪整理
Greenpeace 綠色和平 (台灣網站) - < 好消息！Google將在臺灣增加再生能源使用！>
兩周前，綠色和平發布《點擊綠：再生能源創造綠色網路》報告，指出網路巨擘Google雖有全球100%再生能源承諾，但其彰濱工業區資料中心再生能源使用僅佔4.5%，有很大努力空間。
今天早上，媒體報導Google的資料中心副總裁Joe Kava回應礙於現行法規，無法直接購買再生能源，但會積極尋求其他有創意的方式解決再生能源比例偏低問題。根據報導，Google正與工業局與台電討論解決方式，期望提高再生能源使用比例。
綠色和平樂見Google對再生能源的重視，我們將持續與Google溝通，了解其再生能源使用規劃。同時，也呼籲資通訊產業的其他公司盡快增加再生能源使用比例。
資料來源：
http://www.appledaily.com.tw/appledaily/article/finance/20141015/36145419/落實綠能谷歌在台拼了
https://www.facebook.com/greenpeace.org.tw?fref=nf
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