I think this is a good idea once you reach a critical mass of people that you can use to show trends. In fact, it would be amazing for researchers on the subject. However, I'm not sure how you get people to enter all this information before you can give them good feedback on the trends.

Techguy, I agree to a point, the community effectiveness would be determined by reaching a critical mass. However, beginning with a tool focused on charting a family through the generations is useful for simply documenting it and getting discussion started within the family. People can use their own sense to see the trends in the family. As the community grows, the system can start to provide more meaningful information and connections.

I can see that this would have a more immediate effect within a small group rather than the whole population. It's use by people with a specific medical condition would prove it's worth without needing to reach a critical mass.

I like the idea, but it seems to need refinement and possibly a slight adjustment in direction to capture a bigger market.

I vote +

With health regulations and HIPPA laws in the states, this could be a difficult sell. People are very concerned about their privacy especially when it concerns their health. If you can convince the general population that this is private, protected, and unassailable from legal and insurance interests it is sounds like a great tool for family awareness. I still do not see how it will make money based on the description you have so far given us.

Merman, I hear ya. The privacy issues are definitely the biggest concern. Honestly, I don't have the answer other to say that my on my current project, NetworthIQ, people are willing to bear their financial world, so maybe health isn't so far fetched. As long as you keep it anonymous enough and secure. I can see within family component, you're identified, but in the public view, you're identity should be kept closely guarded. In a crowd-sourced application though, perhaps it's not ideal to have too many hands in the data pot.

As far as money goes. You have two options basically.

1) keep it free, grow the community, sell ads (think big pharma would be interested?) and possibly premium services. Get the data to a point where it's useful to be licensed (important medical info).
2) focus on the family, create a compelling tool that you can charge for. Add features beyond the medical aspect, such as genealogy, photo sharing and more story telling like some of the other family 2.0 sites are doing (amiglia, ourstory, etc.).

sickanimations - Refinement is welcomed, there's always room for improvement. Thanks for the vote!

ctrlaltphilippe - Good point, appreciate the vote. If the community is small, but extremely focused, there's value there.