Nebula Genomics Reviews 845

Apparently even in 2022 it’s hard to keep a customer updated on the status of a QR coded specimen. The user website doesn’t do this very well. I contacted support after a few weeks and they confirmed receipt and said the specimen was at A lab but not THE lab. Now almost two months after submission still no update. I understand that the technical processes take time. Just a little basic communication would help assuage the buyer’s remorse I’m beginning to feel.

I ordered two genome sequencing from Nebula Genomics, my two samples were sent in mid September. After waiting for two months, I sent an e-mail to Nebula customer service team. I was informed that my samples were validated and are possibly in the sequencing phase at this moment (stating that they do not have a very precise status from the third party lab). It takes very long indeed, I hope that this long wait is worth it, so as I am in the middle of the process, I will let things to unfold and update the review, so far, my experience is neutral and my expectations are high.

UPDATE AS OF NOVEMBER 23, 2022:

I was having trouble accessing the "ancestry" portion that Nebula Genomics mentioned in its marketing materials. You know, the one where it said: "Discover your ancestry and find new relatives in our extensive database with state of the art deep genetic ancestry" being written directly below an image of a map of Europe with pins on it, which I think you would agree, a reasonable person would assume that Nebula Genomics is providing a service alongside the sequencing that will not only tell them which countries they are from, but also match them to living ancestors similar to a service like 23AndMe. I've used 23AndMe and it is easy to use, it makes sense, it is transparent, it has a visual interface based on a world map, it's great.
Well, it turns out NO they do not offer that. I am honestly at a loss for words by their response when I asked about the map interface that is shown in the promo materials, which was:
"That image is an example of what can be accomplished with a persons raw DNA data. The CRAM file can be downloaded and converted to a 23andMe format to upload to third party sites. "

So in summary, from Nebula themselves - the marketing images which show a large, multi coloured map of Europe with pins and colours on them are just for illustrative purposes and they do NOT offer any ancestry service that I can tell. They DO offer something called 'Deep Ancestry' which I paid an additional 45 british pounds for, which again I didn't think I would have to thinking this was the 'Ancestry' service, since it appears on the main landing page of Nebula's interface, but no this is not what I paid for. It DOES give you access to Yfull which shows Mitochondrial and Y chromosome DNA analysis, but it doesn't tell you a lot. Yes it shows you what your lineage is, but it is again, in an interface that is NOT comprehensible to the average person, I have a sciences background and I still found it hard to understand even with a tutorial and it doesn't show you where YOU come from, just where a handful of living relatives are today, along with some unique SNPs and a few other bits of data. It's interesting, kind of, but the interest goes away after about five minutes of scrolling through lists of numbers and letters that have no meaning to you unless you are working with a genetics counselor or a professional genealogist. My satisfaction with this has completely tanked. I'm giving this a one star review, and I encourage you all to stay away from this company because this borders on fraud at this point. Promising one thing and then switching it out for something else is criminal.
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ORIGINAL REVIEW FROM NOVEMBER 6, 2022
I will be as transparent as possible: I bought the 30X sequencing and while it is very cool to have a look at my whole genome, I have yet to see significant benefits over 23 And Me. The Ancestry function is currently not working, so I only have a handful of Traits to look at, along with some papers which are matched to my genome. The last tool which lets you analyze your genome by individual genes is probably best used with someone having specific training in genetics: I have a bachelors in microbiology and it was still very hard to understand and use. If you have the patience to use it, it would probably allow you to understand your own health and body a lot better, but I am not at this level.

Getting back to the reports/traits: they divide it into a small section with common traits like ear wax, blood sugar etc and then a larger section with less common stuff like sleep quality, cancer, glaucoma etc. The problem with the papers in the reports section is they vary WIDELY based on what markers the studies used. For example one from 2019 might say you are in the top 90% for a trait because they used 10 markers and you have all of them, while one from 2021 might say you are in the bottom 10% because they used another different 15 markers and you have very few for that trait.

Because of this, I don't think the customer experience has got to the point of justifying the cost. I foolishly assumed with a full genomic sequence they could pin the odds down much further, but as someone with asthma and psoriasis, the best they could give me was saying I had above average odds of having both based on my genetics. I know that environment plays a large role in many diseases so this isn't really Nebula's fault and I hope over time they can improve their communication to the public about this.

Closing: I will say the customer service experience was VERY positive. The staff on the other end were responsive, and helpful, and were able to help me fix a problem that was MY fault without telling me to go kick rocks. Overall, I will keep the service for a while to see if I get more out of it, and I will update if anything changes.

Nebula has a suburb customer Support system. I am a forgetful 73 year old. Emily painstakingly guided me for several days through the steps to repair a serious mistake I had made on the website that prevented me from registering my kit. I am registered now. Many thanks to Nebula and Emily.

A complete waste of time and money. It has been nearly a year since I purchased my kit and sent in my sample and I still do not have results. I recently got an email claiming the sample wasn't usable and they want me to send another one.....

Go for it if you want to wait till hell freezes. Two months and still no results and no processing of my sample. greatly disappointed.

Update. Today, after this long wait. They claimed that the sample did not contain enough DNA. I have been a geneticist for 25 years and I collect DNA samples on a daily basis from many patients. I am severely disappointed. Do not do it.

Update: I requested a full refund and I will see what they will do.

UPDATE: received the refund.

Thanks for everything

Nebula Genomics has the world's most comprehensive and thorough DNA sequencing available in the world. They cannot be compared with other companies. I have done both the 30x and the 100x kits and I am very impressed! Thank you Nebula Genomics!

The process takes an exceedingly long time and their website does not correctly update on where the sample is in the process. Most of their site hasn't been updated since 2021. 2021 is frequently seen. Half of the tools they provide you once you do get your data do not work. The files you will receive from them are of low quality and not readable by many outside services. I would avoid this company.
One important thing to note is that they do not provide any images of the web application they want you to subscribe to. This is because it is not at all the way the public site describes it to you. It's garbage.

Five months after submitting my sample and I still have nothing. I don't even know if it has passed the main quality stage (whatever their stages mean.) Why are they still selling tests when they can't process them? I have been diagnosed with a rare genetic disease; thus, this information is critical. Theranos vibes, for sure. I doubt I will ever get my results. They keep making false promises. Update: Once I posted this rating Nebula suddenly sent my results even though the day before they said it hadn’t even passed all stages of quality yet, that they were very far behind processing and that it would still be weeks until my reports. The reports I nowreceived can’t be opened. There support has not given me the name of software I can use use to open reports. Two reports can’t even be downloaded or opened. There is simply an error message when clicking. So far the data is completely unusable and unreadable. There reply is to use it on there site to look up genes one by one if you happen to know the name of the gene. I own the data yet they can’t give it to me in a document that can be opened? My one star rating remains. Obviously most other customers are having the same problem. They tell me they are a new company and overwhelmed with work. Why then are they still accepting new clients?

I have mixed feelings about Nebula. Here are some of the positives and negatives:

Positives:
* Processed the sample in 8-10 weeks as advertised
* Responsive to requests
* Reasonably priced
* Useful for finding rare diseases. Imports nicely into geneticgenie.org
* $4 discount on YFull
* Able to upload to all major sites after conversion.
* Works well and directly with geneticgenie.org
* Still likely the best direct to consumer whole genome sequencing

Negatives:
* Takes a long time to process the data
* Responses are nonsensical
* $275 for lifetime reports is insanely expensive and unnecessary.
* Reports rarely update. It was 4 months until the one and only update, the first in over a year.
* Reports are contradictory with past reports. I am not sure what to believe after reading them. Did it get it right previously, or is it right now? Kind of like reading your horoscope.
* Deep ancestral analysis is a joke at best. It's deep, like 3,000 years to my closest relative.
* There is NO Family TreeDNA as promised
* YFull is just a teaser. The offering is cheesy at best (You have to pay for anything meaningful. Before you get precise results, the subscription times out.).
* Takes two months for the YFull analysis to complete. I don't know if Nebula clients are low priority or if that is just the way it is with YFull.
* I paid for 30X. The mean sampling was 18.1X, anywhere from 1X to 301X. It doesn't compare well to others.
* I have concerns about the quality of the data as compared to others on the ydna-warhouse.org website
* Data format is not widely accepted on other sites. Conversion necessary.

Neutral:
* Traits are a joke. Might be fun for some to compare. About half are correct for me. I learned quickly that DNA testing doesn't tell you much about what you are, only what you are predisposed to be.
* Don't know what to make about the Biome. Interesting, but not that useful.
* You have to be in the weeds to make use of the gene analysis and genome browser. Geneticgenie.org is about as deep as I want to get at this point, and it is free.

I contacted Nebula about the Family TreeDNA. At first, it said that it was still on track to provide it (since 2019). I contacted Family TreeDNA. It indicated that it had higher priorities and with nothing active in progress. I messaged that with Nebula, after which it removed most references to Family TreeDNA. It said it was offering YFull in its place. YFull is at best a cheesy offering for deep ancestral analysis. YFull has a fairly small database of users. You have a partial version for 45 days, after which you have to buy the full version. YFull offered a $4 discount. It's worth it if you want to get into the weeds.

To use Nebula on most websites, you have to perform a conversion. There are several false conversion sites and programs out there. The first one I used gave me wacky results. Then, I found WGSExtract. Works great, but it is CPU intensive, with some calculations taking three days. It is useful to convert to h37 for some sites. Ultimately, I was able to import to all the major DNA websites.

Geneticgenie.org is a great site to scan your data for diseases. It is similar to ClinVar but much, much easier to use.

Unlike others, I actually found the buying experience seamless. Took about four months from purchase to results from Australia, which I was happy with.

The results themselves are an absolute mess, and most couldn't be further from reality. Apparently I'm in the top percentile for pretty much every known disease and cancer imaginable, but i'll live a long life. Way off recognising most of my traits. Can't view any of this analysis as credible.

Per below, I had a lot of issues with their processing of my sample. That said, over the past 1 1/2 years they have been very responsive in addressing issues with their website and responding to my questions. I think they are a work in progress but they seem to be a solid option for genome sequencing.

Four months after submitting a sample, which was supposed to take three months to process, I received an email stating that they could not process my sample "likely" because I didn't follow instructions correctly. Setting aside the 4 months it took them to come to that conclusion, I can state emphatically that I followed precisely the instructions they gave me. I submitted another sample and, despite "priority processing" it took 3 1/2 months to finally get my results. I would also note that their email notification process and the sample "online tracker" on their website did not function properly.

To their credit, the customer service people were friendly and responded quickly

I eventually got my results back but it took eight months.

Deceptive pricing (they add a monthly fee at checkout, or a large lump-sum for a lifetime subscription), and the results took a long time to come back (a few months), but the dashboard of genetic tendencies (based on various studies) that they give you is quite good! Pleasantly surprised on that front.

I like that I have full access to download my genetic data. If you choose another company, make sure they allow you to actually download your raw data - that way you can upload it to another site for analysis if needed (e.g. in case the company goes out of business, or they try to lock you in to some sort of expensive ongoing plan).

Hoping that this technology will become a lot cheaper over the next few years so that it's more accessible. My results have definitely confirmed some suspicions that I had, and I'm looking forward to talking to a doctor about some of the more technical results.

After research I find that the problem is that the only mention of some other charge is in the SMALL PRINT AT CHECK OUT BEFORE YOU HIT PAY.

It is not mentioned in the package price breakdown of all that you get. It is mentioned NOWHERE but this little tiny item in CHECKOUT (!!!!!) before you hit pay. And the future subscription does not show on order so, then clarified, you could cancel (before you do test).

Do not use this company. This is very deceptive. The only reason this is done is to make you think you are getting something for $XX, comparable to competition, when it is really a minimum of $75 more.

It's like the hotels used to do with the MANDATORY resort fees at check-out. Wasn't there a state that sued the hotels? That's an idea.

It took forever to get the results. There is no phone number on their website. A year later and they charged my credit card without authorization......and there's still no phone number on their website to handle that issue.

Doctors kept saying my daughters condition was probably from biological moms drug use. There was no indication during adoption of drug use. Ordered there test and found her diagnosis. Went back to doctors and they reran DNA using their preferred lab. Same results and now my daughter is getting the right treatment.

The data might be 30x better than the competition but their web application is not really very useful to be honest. The ancestry service requires a PHD to understand it and the genome data is incompatible with other services.
The waiting time is also EXTREMELY long.
With that said - you do get a lot of genetic information, so if you know how to interpret it it might be useful to you.

I bought the full sequencing with the most expensive subscription, paying USD 1200. I don't live in the USA and they use the cheapest international delivery possible, so after about 5 months I hadn't gotten the sampling kit.
After a lot of back and forth they agreed to send it via FedEx, at my expense. By mistake they sent over a hundred sampling kits and customs wanted to charge me for importing sampling kits, luckily I managed to get only one released. I sent the sample via FedEx, I got a confirmation of delivery but no update from Nebula.
I ask and they update to it being processed. After more than six months of not aving any news I make an inquiry and they tell me they will have it done by the next week. Again nothing for two weeks so I ask and apparently they could not get the sequencing from the samples. Six months to realize the sample was not viable.
I ask for a refun and they tell me they issued a full refund, a few days ago I check my credit card and I have USD 100 dollars back from them. So they kept USD 1100. I really don't recommend it if you don't live in the USA where they can mess up faster. I guess at some point they might get it right, but if it takes it one year to get it wrong the first time is just to much time wasted.

This review is specifically about Michelle in customer service. She was responsive to my request and took the time to search the order records to aid me with obtaining a replacement kit (my original sample couldn't be sequenced). Thank you Michelle for the excellent customer service!

A review has already been written against sequencing.com, outlying the main reason as to why. Let the same be written of their sister company. As I ordered WGS (whole genome) testing) from BOTH of them, and sent the kits back together via DHL Express to the return address, which was the AKESOgen lab in Georgia. I warn you, stay well clear of the whole genome sequencing testing, as they will make some lame excuse that there was not enough DNA for a sample, or it is contaminated. Especially when they use the AKESOgen lab, the same lab used by CRI Genetics. And my tests went through with them without any problems. The same excuse was made by their sister company Sequencing.com. Save the excuses please, Stephanie. I’m not blindly accepting things you say. And this is coming from someone who most likely has done more genetic tests than anybody else has ever done. And spent more on them, with their costs running into tens of thousands of dollars