Nebula Genomics summary & thoughts
The process until getting the report
I wrote I submitted Nebula Genomics on my past blog. I selected the Ultra-deep 100x coverage plan. If I checked my email history, it is below.
- I ordered it on 1st November 2022.
- I received the kit from Nebula Genomics and sent the kit with my saliva sample to Nebula Genomics at the end of November or the start of December 2022.
- I got an announcement from Nebula Genomics that my genome report was ready on 13th April 2023.
So, it took 4 months and a half in this process. This long term to get the report is a challenge. However, I think this was a good start to my journey to analyze my genome.
Reports
This service provides the following types of reports.
Traits: That is a list of your traits. Each trait is analyzed from one of a few SNPs (SNP = a variant from the gene on the specific position of the genome from the standard reference genome). The sub-categories are "Appearance and Hormones", "Behavior and Perception", "Body & Athleticism" and "Nutrition & Diet". Each report has a link to the scientific paper.
Deep Ancestry: It seems that is a 3rd-party service called YFull. You can unlock this service by paying extra. I don't remember how much the cost is. But it's not expensive.
Microbiome: You can check the diversity of the microbiome in your body, and the rate (percentile). Microbiome information is dynamic information, unlike DNA information. Microbiome changes with your lifestyle. It affects your health condition and personality.
Library: Right now 321 reports are listed. It seems that the difference from the Traits report is that the reports in the Library category are analyzed from many SNPs unlike the reports in the Traits category from a few SNPs. The reporting is more detailed. The guide is here. You can share the report with other people by the specific link. For example, here is my report about Systemizing. I suppose this is my strength.
Genome Analysis: It seems that you can check all the SNPs for each gene.
Genome Browser: You can check the state of the genome, and check a specific area of the genome searching by a genome position. This is a web application based on the Integratewd Genome Viewer - IGV.
Genome data
You can download your genome data.
- CRAM file: A compressed BAM file that contains your reconstructed genome.
[your ID].mm2.sortdup.bqsr.cram: 199 GB - CRAI file: A file that includes indexing information for your CRAM file.
[your ID].mm2.sortdup.bqsr.cram.crai: 3.5 MB - FASTQ file: ext files that contain your raw sequencing data.
[your ID]_1.fq.gz: 160 GB,[your ID]_2.fq.gz: 168 GB The reason why there are 2 files is because the one is the one direction, and another is the reverse direction. - VCF: A text file that contains a list of your genetic variants.
[your ID].mm2.sortdup.bqsr.hc.vcf.gz: 237 MB. - TBI: A file that includes indexing information for your VCF file.
[your ID].mm2.sortdup.bqsr.hc.vcf.gz.tbi: 1.6 MB
Thoughts
Nebula Genomics is a good start for your journey to understand youself from the genome. And it's possible to understand what to eat and what not to eat foods for your best health. I think this service contributed to democratizing genome sequencing technology at an affordable cost, enabling people to have their own whole genome sequencing data.
However, in my opinion, the genome reports are just meaningful with actual biological tests to understand what's happening in your body. The gene expression appears or does not appear depending on your body condition. And the web service's user interface and features can be improved.
It's nice to see Nebula Genomics collaborating with 3rd party service YFull in the Deep Ancestry report. I am looking forward to seeing the company Nebula Genomics collaborates with other companies to provide more tests. And I hope Nebula Genomics will start to offer Genome advisors to customers in the future. Interpreting the genome reports and understanding how to act based on the reports is a challenge.
