Ancestry DNA Testing Reviews for Nebula Genomics

Pretty cool!

Purchased 3 kits (self and both parents, I would recommend getting multiple generations done) in July 2019. Other family has done: 23andme and FamilyTree.

Positives:
1. Nebula is more complete and ““scientific”“. I am a professor of genetics, and the calculation and reporting of polygenic risk scores based on whole genome sequencing data is a more accurate representation of ““risk”“. Imputation based on the low number of markers typed at other companies is less accurate than whole genome sequencing and will affect any downstream multi-marker risk reporting.

2. The Nebula library includes both risk scores and the original source papers. This is highly useful for folks in field. I have also been able to get them to use better papers for certain traits… i.e. you can nominate papers for their library, which is very nice. You can link out from the library to easily share results.

3. The ancestry predictions tracked well with data from other sites.

4. All data is extremely easy to download and analyze on your own as outputs are in .vcf format which is standard. Nebula includes instructions for how to run some of the analysis they don’t do. It’s very easy and fun! :)

5. While not tested by me, I also think the idea that this is very secure is nice. I do not like that 23andme uses your data for their own purposes.

Negatives:
1. There was a bit of confusion wrt submission since you need to register PRIOR to sending the tube. This wasn’t noted by one of my parents and ended up being a bit of work to solve. Positive was that customer service was nice about it. Protip: just take a picture of the tube and all codes prior to sending.

2. The UI is less ““sexy”” than 23andme. I prefer this because I personally would rather have the library and accurate data, but if you are looking for more graphics, the library can be hard to search. I would love it if the library were more sortable and searchable.

3. For me there is a small issue with the reporting of the risk scores. They give you the polygenic risk score reported as a positive score [more likely to have trait], or a negative score [less likely to have trait] and then the percentage comparison of that score to the entire population that Nebula has sampled. The issue is that it is a bit confusing what that percentage means. If the score is negative, and I am protected and I’m in the 99%, does that mean I am more negative than 99% of people in the population and therefore really protected? Or are all of those percentages calculated such that it is how high your score is vs the rest of the population, so that this would mean a negative risk score that then maps to the top 99% of the nebula population is protective, but only by a little bit compared to everyone else? This has never been clarified and it is unclear from the webpage. I’d tried multiple times to get a reply. No love :p.

4. Also, if the percentage is the ““gold standard”” from Nebula, some sum stats for the entire population would be good. I assume folks that sign up for Nebula are generally white and well educated. Comparing folks across ethnicities etc isn’t going to work well for risk scores.

The TL;DR of this: I’d do Nebula again, but I’d love a few tweaks to the UI and downstream analyses.

Great work!

I enjoy receiving emails with notifications!

I am happy that you were recommended to me!

Great platform.

Good service glad for privacy/protection.

Soo cool!

I enjoy reading new findings in the library section of my profile every week. I also liked the ancestry part of the test. Thank you.

Please add Y-dna with 30x option. You will kill it.

It’s a great resource.

You are awesome!

Ancestry ‘revised’ my results three times. The scientific approach of nebula, looking to a priority of research is a focus I can agree on and support.

Absolutely impressed with the service and reports.

I like Nebula. I wish it broke down the heritage a little bit further like competing products. Like the traits section tho!

I’ve recommended Nebula but most of my friends want the genealogy information that other providers provide.

Keep doing what you’re doing!

This was a great experience for me! I’m glad I did not use any of the popular ancestry websites.

Keep up the great work!

I enjoy the articles and wish there was more on ancestry.