Nebula Genomics

The first human genome was sequenced in 2001 at a cost of $3 billion. Today, human genome sequencing costs less than $1000, and in a few years the price will drop below $100. Thus, personal genome sequencing will soon be widely adopted as it enables better diagnosis, disease prevention, and personalized therapies. Furthermore, if genomic data is shared with researchers, the causes of many diseases will be identified and new drugs developed. These opportunities are creating a genomic data market worth billions of dollars.

Nebula Genomics seeks to lead this emerging market by understanding and overcoming key obstacles. We will spur genomic data growth by significantly reducing the costs of personal genome sequencing, enhancing genomic data protection, enabling buyers to efficiently acquire genomic data, and addressing the challenges of genomic big data. We will accomplish this through decentralization, cryptography, and utilization of the blockchain.

SEQUENCING COSTS - The Nebula peer-to-peer network will enable data buyers to acquire genomic data directly from data owners without middlemen. This will enable data owners to receive sequencing subsidies from data buyers and profit from sharing their data. Reducing sequencing costs will accelerate growth of genomic data.

DATA PROTECTION - Data owners will privately store their genomic data and control access to it. Shared data will be protected through zero-trust, encryption-based secure computing. Data owners will remain anonymous, while data buyers will be required to be fully transparent about their identity. The Nebula blockchain will immutably store all data transaction records. Addressing data privacy concerns will likewise accelerate growth of genomic data.

DATA ACQUISITION - The Nebula network will aggregate genomic data from individuals and genomic databanks and thereby address the problem of genomic data fragmentation. Direct communication with data owners and a smart survey tool will enable data buyers to collect high quality trait information. Utilization of standardized data formats will facilitate data curation. Smart contracts will automate and thereby accelerate data purchases.

GENOMIC BIG DATA - Genomic big data is projected to outgrow video and text data within the next few years. Through decentralized data storage, flexible utilization of available computing power and efficient file transfers enabled by space-efficient data encoding, the Nebula network will absorb the forthcoming data explosion.