I want to have a look at domain names associated with diseases and what to look for in those domain names. Domain names associated with diseases may be worth investing in.
In the latest issue of Science, there is a paper on genes linked to inherited susceptibility to autism. A subscription is needed to read the articles in most of these journals but may be available through your public library or college. They are a great source of ideas for such domain names.
Autism
Autism is a brain development disorder that impairs social interaction and communication, and causes restricted and repetitive behavior, all starting before a child is three years old. This set of signs distinguishes autism from milder autism spectrum disorders (ASD) such as Asperger syndrome.
The incidence of autism appears to be increasing though it is unclear whether this is because of better detection or an actual increase in the number of people affected. It mainly occurs in males and requires considerable support services and can have quite an impact on the family both emotionally and financially.
Autism has been linked in the media to vaccination especially those with thimersal, a mercury containing preservative but no good scientific evidence backs this connection. Vaccinations have been thimersal-free for some time but no decrease in autism incidence has been noted.
Autism and Domaining
Autism related domain names benefit from the following characteristics
- Increased incidence
- Strong media coverage
- Controversy
- Activism by family, lawyers etc
- Associated support services e.g. speech therapy, behavioral therapy etc
- Strong impact on family both emotional and financial
Disease related domain names benefit from these characteristics. Google trends is one tool that helps evaluate some of these factors e.g. autism. The associated treatments and services will provide the revenue when the domain name is parked or developed.
Ethics of disease domaining
You may question the ethics of benefiting financially from disease related domain names. In my opinion, this is a matter of finding your own level of comfort. If I receive an inquiry from a nonprofit/charity for a disease related domain name, I am more likely to part with it for a nominal sum or even give it away depending on the circumstances. You may be able to write off the amount against your taxes but consult your financial adviser first.
I have less issues with developed domains where information on the disease, treatment and services are provided. You can even develop the domain into a referral service, collecting the money from the service providers rather than patients or families of patients.
Summary
Look for disease related domains that have these characteristics
- associated with increasing incidence of the disease
- may have controversy associated with the disease or treatment
- the disease has a strong impact on patient, family and support services
- gets media coverage
My Sister is a Prenatal Specialist, and Genetic Counselor and works in prenatal genetic diseases and diagnosis.
The field is growing exponentially due to advances in new genome sequencing research. Unfortunately, the field is also growing because of the increasing numbers of genetic diseases in the prenatal population.
Prenatal disease diagnosis while almost unheard of 5-10 years ago is now on the forefront of perinatal medicine. Millions of dollars are being spent on developing prenatal DNA tests to diagnose these disorders as quickly as possible.
I agree that this is a largely untapped domain market with huge upside potential - mainly with the pharmaceutical companies.
Set a Google News Alert for “genetic disease” and see what turns up this month.
Agree completely with you, Kelly. The only catch may be that the tests are outrunning the treatments and that’s creating dilemmas for patients. Also genetic markers may only give statistical odds of having the disease actually occur during the patient’s lifetime e.g BRCA in breast cancer. Some women have insisted on double mastecomies to prevent the possibility of having breast cancer later in life after a positive BRCA test.
Genetic counseling is critical to help patients make sense of the information being given to them. Another hot area for domaining perhaps.
You may be interested to hear that dotMobi, the Irish-based Registry for the .mobi TLD, recently awarded the Premium Name autism.mobi to the Autism Research Institute in San Diego.
The ARI has designed a mobile site which includes advice for parents, treatment tips and answers to frequently asked questions around autism. One especially valuable feature is the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist which is designed to evaluate cognitive, communication, sensory and social skills of individuals on the autism spectrum.
Autism.mobi is an excellent example of a site that has been created with the needs of a particular community in mind, taking into consideration the fact that more and more people are going mobile. The site is being promoted across various mediums and the ARI plans to add some additional features over time.
dotMobi was delighted to partner with the ARI and to see the domain name being actively used in such a way.
Caroline Greer
dotMobi
Thanks Caroline. Funny you mention Ireland as I am going there this Saturday for 2 weeks.
I think what you have also shown in your comment is that there can be some nice free PR available in “doing the right thing” with such domains.
purchased fightdiseases.org and was thinking it
was a waste of dough, now i feel better