Nebula Genomics

Nebula Genomics is a personal genomics company based in San Francisco, California. It offers a whole-genome sequencing service.[1][2]

Nebula Genomics
TypePrivate
IndustryBiotechnology
Personal Genomics
Founded2018
FounderGeorge Church
Dennis Grishin
Kamal Obbad
Headquarters
San Francisco, California
ServicesGenetic testing
Whole-genome sequencing
Websitewww.nebula.org

History

Nebula Genomics was co-founded in 2018 by George Church, geneticist at Harvard Medical School.[3][4] In August 2018, Nebula Genomics announced a seed funding round of $4.3 million led by Khosla Ventures.[5][6] In September 2019, the company launched the first anonymous genetic testing service.[7] In February 2020, Nebula Genomics began offering high-coverage whole-genome sequencing for $299 internationally.[8] The service also requires a subscription to Nebula Explore.[9] On 11 August 2021, ProPhase Labs, a diversified medical science and technology company, announced the acquisition of Nebula Genomics by its recently formed subsidiary, ProPhase Precision Medicine, Inc., for about $14.6 million in a combination of ProPhase Labs common stock and cash.[10]

Privacy concerns

Use by law enforcement and risk of data breaches

Nebula Genomics says that it is developing its own blockchain to enforce security and privacy but, despite that, re-identification of people starting from the genetic data could be still possible (DNA itself is a unique identifier), law enforcement could still issue search warrants or subpoena the data and this technology, given also the fact that is hard to implement, could still be vulnerable to data breaches.[11][12] This is also stated in Nebula Genomics' Privacy Policy: "However, under certain circumstances your genetic information may be subject to processing pursuant to laws, regulations or judicial or governmental orders, warrants or subpoenas. In other words, a lawful demand by public authorities may require we share your personal Information", they also state that: "We may share your personal data if we believe it is reasonably necessary to enforce the Nebula Terms and Conditions, protect the security and integrity of our Services, or protect the rights, safety, or property of Nebula, our employees or users". About data breaches risk it's written that: "While we cannot guarantee that loss, access or misuse of data will not occur, we use reasonable efforts to prevent these outcomes."[13]

Technology

Nebula Genomics develops technologies to enable controllable, transparent and secure genomic data sharing.[14] It is also developing approaches for privacy-preserving analysis of genomic datasets.[15][16]

Awards

In 2019, Nebula Genomics won the “Best-in-Show” award at the SXSW Pitch competition, part of the South by Southwest festival.[17]

References
  1. "Startup Offers To Sequence Your Genome Free Of Charge, Then Let You Profit From It". NPR.org. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  2. Purdy, Chase. "Everyday people can now map their genomes and maybe keep their privacy". Quartz. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  3. Mullin, Emily. "This new company wants to sequence your genome and let you share it on a blockchain". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  4. "In startup, George Church bets cryptocurrency will boost DNA sequencing". STAT. 2018-02-07. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  5. "George Church's genetics on the blockchain startup just raised $4.3 million from Khosla". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  6. "Nebula Genomics Raises $4.3M, Partners With Veritas". GenomeWeb. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  7. "You Can Soon Get Your DNA Sequenced Anonymously". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  8. Mullin, Emily (2020-02-20). "The Price of DNA Sequencing Dropped From $2.7 Billion to $300 in Less Than 20 Years". Medium. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  9. "The Price of DNA Sequencing". Retrieved 2020-10-14.
  10. "ProPhase Labs Acquires Whole Genome Sequencing Company, Nebula Genomics". Benzinga. 2021-08-11. Archived from the original on 2022-02-18. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  11. Weintraub, Karen (2018-11-17). "Genetics Start-Up Wants to Sequence People's Genomes for Free". Scientific American. Archived from the original on 2022-02-14. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  12. Molteni, Megan (2019-09-19). "You Can Soon Get Your DNA Sequenced Anonymously". Wired. Archived from the original on 2022-02-14. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  13. Quinn, Kevin (2019-11-21). "Privacy Policy". Nebula Genomics. Archived from the original on 2022-02-14. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  14. Grishin, Dennis; Obbad, Kamal; Church, George M. (2019). "Data privacy in the age of personal genomics". Nature Biotechnology. 37 (10): 1115–1117. doi:10.1038/s41587-019-0271-3. ISSN 1546-1696. PMID 31537915. S2CID 202687125.
  15. Grishin, Dennis; Raisaro, Jean Louis; Troncoso-Pastoriza, Juan Ramón; Obbad, Kamal; Quinn, Kevin; Misbach, Mickaël; Gollhardt, Jared; Sa, Joao; Fellay, Jacques; Church, George M.; Hubaux, Jean-Pierre (2019-10-10). "Citizen-Centered, Auditable, and Privacy-Preserving Population Genomics". bioRxiv: 799999. doi:10.1101/799999.
  16. "This Company Wants to Sequence Your Genome, Put It On a Blockchain—And Pay You For It". Fortune. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  17. "The Funded: Two Bay Area startups win SXSW Pitch competition". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.