These 30 Under 30 Founders Want Your Genome

A startup cofounded by Harvard genomics pioneer George Church and two Forbes 30 Under 30 members is now seeking people who want to have their genome sequenced.

Positioned as an alternative to existing DNA testing companies like 23AndMe and Ancestry , Nebula Genomics was founded last year by Church, 24-year-old Kamal Obbad and 28-year-old Dennis Grishin and has since raised $4.5 million from investors such as Khosla Ventures, Arch Venture Partners and F-Prime Capital Partners. However, Nebula is different in two key ways. One, they plan to sequence your whole genome. And two, they’re going to store your data on the blockchain.

“We are entering the age of genomics, an amazing future that will dramatically improve the health outcomes of people across the planet. Soon, we won’t be able to imagine a time when we left home without knowledge of our genome to guide us,” wrote Church in a Medium post in August about Nebula.

The founders of Nebula Genomics are CEO Kamal Obbad (left), George Church, and chief scientific officer, Dennis Grishin (right).Photo courtesy of Nebula Genomics

As of today, users who want to try this out can do this in two ways. The first: Fill out short 7 to 12-question surveys on Nebula’s website about things like your sleep and your job. When you’ve filled out a certain number of these surveys, then you’ll have earned enough credits to have your genome sequenced for free. But, you might have to wait a while to actually get your results back this way. In an emailed statement, Nebula says, “Our focus to begin with is getting a lot of users, and having them generate data they own and are willing to share. A lot of the marketplace revolves around that, so eventually when the user base is built up, and we have our research partners on board, this will materialize.”

Or, if you don’t want to wait around, or bother with filling out surveys, customers can also pay $99 and do the same thing. Nebula will send you a box with a spit kit that you’ll ship back after collecting your sample. For now, what you’ll get in return is information about your ancestry similar to what other companies on the market offer, as well as polygenic risk scores, which will show users things like for example, how your genes predispose you to being physically fit or the quality of the sleep you get, or how happy you are. For now, Nebula will not be sharing information about how your genetics can influence your risk for diseases like celiac or Parkinson’s.

“Think of it as a lifetime of discovery instead of a transaction where you send in a spit kit, you get back your results and that's it,” says Obbad. “What we're really focused on is the individual who wants to benefit from getting their genome sequenced and want the analytics on that, but they want to own the data, and they want to have a cut if anyone pays for access to the data,” says Obbad.

Getting your whole genome sequenced is different than what a company like 23AndMe does, which is called genotyping. Nebula will offer a “1x whole genome sequencing,” which provides more data to future researchers than genotyping, but is less detailed than a clinical grade sequencing, which today costs about $1,000 and is used for diagnostics and medical recommendations.

Another key difference Obbad points out between Nebula and other DNA testing companies is that Nebula won’t own, or even have access to your genome once they sequence it. That’s part of the magic of blockchain and encryption, he says. Users will have total control over their data. In fact, Nebula’s encryption technology prevents the company from having all the keys necessary to decrypt user data. If a research team wants to access their data, the user will know who is making that request, what they want to do with it, and then agree or decline that request. And if they do agree, they’ll get paid for that, too, says Obbad. (First in credits that can be redeemed for things like gift cards, but later the company hopes to be able to pay users in real money.)

“We will educate people about uncertainties of genetic testing and risks of psychological adverse effects, we will make sure that people are fairly compensated for their data and not taken advantage of and we will ensure that full transparency is maintained at all times,” Church wrote in his August post.

Nebula hasn’t yet said what types of researchers will be requesting access to this data, but says that it will be announcing a partnership with a “major pharma company” soon.

To stay in the loop with Forbes Health coverage, subscribe to the Innovation Rx newsletter here.

Let's block ads! (Why?)