Nebula Genomics opened with fanfare a few years ago due to offering a very cheap WGS test and a blockchain encrypted method of storing the genetic data results. This was never considered by the genetic genealogy community due to extremely low coverage of the shotgun, pared-end sequencing being performed. Their test was only 0.4x average read depth coverage compared to the clinical laboratory standard of 30x. 0.4x, while generating more data than a typical microarray file format test, is simply too minimal a coverage for all key areas to provide useful genetic genealogy matching. The chance of testing the needed SNPs of any particular microarray test is small. Enter 2020 and Nebula Genomics has announced a 30x WGS test for a standard price of sub-$500. To date, Dante Labs has offered its similar test at sub-$500 but usually only in one of their frequent "flash" sales that last a short time. While Dante Labs typical sale price of $200 beats the Nebula Genomics standard offer price of $300, there are many features that may make one better than the other. Let's first summarize the Nebula Genomics offering and then do a comparison table.

  • "We do 150 bp paired-end read sequencing using high-throughput MGI DNBSEQ-T7 DNA sequencing machines." (so this is a big change from Dante Labs' BGI experience last year on older equipment with 100 base-pair reads. This offering now matches Dante Labs' and their Illumina Novaseq 6000 equipment. There has been lots of press in 2019 of this new machine and chemistry from BGI. And lots of lawsuits by Illumina in all the places outside China that support it!)
  • "We align your sequencing data to the HG38 version of the human genome using a GATK-based pipeline." (So GRCh38 from the start. You can easily create HG19/GRCh37 for autosomal extraction if you desire. Just as you can easily create x38 from x37 for haplogroup work. But gives you direct access to x38 needed for haplogroup work without further processing.)
  • "Yes! You will be able to download all your genomic data. This includes your FASTQ, BAM and VCF files." (And this will be independent of any subscription. Available from their AWS cloud. Will there be the same issues as Dante Labs with download speed, ability to send a link, etc?)
  • "You are charged $299 for sequencing immediately after purchase. You are charged your first subscription fee when your sample has been sequenced and your results are ready. You can pay monthly ($19.99/month), ...." (You DO HAVE TO HAVE an initial subscription to their service. $19.95 for the first month at minimum. The subscription will not start or be charged until results are delivered. And it can be cancelled at any time once started. So you have to add $20 to the cost that will not be billed until later. And remember to cancel if the subscription is not desired.)
  • Free return shipping in the USA only. (Non-USA customers can receive the kit from them but will have to arrange their own shipping back to Houston, TX themselves. Meaning you have to fight customs yourself. Not a good solution for non-USA customers but doable. See handling international shipping with FTDNA from other sites. Some struggle with this. Especially Australia and New Zealand for some reason.)
  • They say 8 weeks for processing and up to 2 weeks to receive a cheek swab-sample kit. Likely, like Dante, is not counting the 8 weeks until it reaches the Hong Kong lab though. But yet to see. This is the big if. Dante did blame BGI for all their problems on delivery IN 2019 as did FGC before that.
  • Starting 2Q2020, partnership with FTDNA, on yDNA and mtDNA (only?), that includes "comparison" to their large databases. Does not explicitly say submission to BigY database (ala NatGeoGeno tests which did not allow that). Or what, if any, fee from the FTDNA end. TBD. But does appear as a route to get into FTDNA's yDNA and mtDNA databases and services. (You can always use your BAM and WGS Extract to get into FamilyFinder yourself. They seem to explicitly say only yDNA and mtDNA for now.) FTDNA has clarified that you get into their SNP database on your profile for free. But not into BigY SNP matching and tree without an additional, TBD fee of less than the test cost. So maybe better than NGG then. With NGG, FTDNA import the SNPs, show them in the account and to STR matches, declare a haplogroup (lowest), etc. But there is no use of the SNPs in the BigY tree or matching.

Much of this information comes from the FAQ on the Nebula Genomics website at the time of their new offering. But some is gathered from employees of both Nebula Genomics and FamilyTreeDNA through posts in private Facebook groups covering WGS testing. We will update and clarify this article as more becomes available.

So lets get the real comparison table:
FeatureNebulaDanteNotes
Read Length150150This is the best offered for short-read, paired-end, massively parallel sequencing and now similar for both.
Avg Read Depth30x mapped30x RAW (maybe)Dante only now guarantees 90 RAW gigabases of sequencing independent of what mapping rate may occur.
EquipmentMGI DNBSEQ-T7Illumina NovaSeq 6000Dante originally started with the BGI Hong Long lab as did FGC; but both with older sequencers only doing 100 bp read length when Illumina had 120.
Price$299+$150-$700Dante's price depends on sales; usually flash sale in November. Nebula charges $299 initially. But you are required to order a subscription which will be charged when results are delivered. Minimum is one month at $19 which you can cancel after 29 days.
SubscriptionRequiredOfferedNebula requires a subscription to purchase the product; but allows cancellation within the first month once the results are received and subscription billing starts. Both require a subscription to get report updates (mostly medical analysis reports). Dante does not require a subscription to get reports; you can purchase the reports individually. Nebula does not provide access to reports without a subscription. You can buy a lifetime subscription for $200 at the time of the order from Nebula
Reports(medical)(medical)Both are focused on offering medical reports and interpretation. See above for access and update costs with subscriptions. Dante reports are mostly a-la-carte.
Reports(genealogy)(genealogy)Neither has a direct focus here but 3rd party (free) tools are available for transfer into other sites.
File DeliveryFASTQ, CRAM, VCFFASTQ, BAM, VCFData files are generally available initially without any subscription or additional cost CRAM is another form of a BAM. But both take the BAM and FASTQ files offline after 90 days. Dante requires a subscription to get access back again. Nebula just a button click and 48 hours to restore. The VCF is/are always available.
BAM ref modelhs38dhhs37d5Not a big deal either way as you need both and one can be easily converted to the other.
Delivery Time8 weeks8 weeksBoth have issues delivering (likely, typically). Nebula's kits are going to Houston, TX for processing, then Hong Kong for sequencing, then data back to USA for bioinformatics. Dante kits in USA go to Utah first, then Italy. Both count the test processing time as starting from once received in the actual laboratory. Which can be 0 to 6 weeks after receipt depending on the initial facility that receives the kit.
Sample KitSwabSpitLike for MyHeritage and FTDNA, Nebula uses the scrape / swab collection. Samples based on cheek cells. Dante uses the more typical spit tube that relies on white blood cells in the saliva. Spit is more difficult to obtain and unreliable from older adults and young children.
Market CoverageWorldwide;
Only USA Free return ship		Worlwide;
Longer USA return ship		Nebula is using Gene by Gene Ltd (FTDNAs parent) to ship and receive kits. They are located in Houston, TX and only offer free return shipping within the USA. But do ship out worldwide. Dante ships with DHL from Italy to anywhere in the world and offers free return shipping. So more knowledge of custom handling by DHL. For Dante, this is except USA generally; which are shipped from its partner Spectrum in Utah, an Ancestry spinoff. So Dante is free return shipping worldwide (to Italy or Utah; respectively) with Nebula free return shipping only in the USA. Note: a few countries customs units restrict the spit/swab kits across their borders. Australia and New Zealand seem to be constant problems in this regard.
Genetic GenealogyFTDNAyFullDante announced a yFull partnership in Fall 2018 but nothing ever came of it. (yFull says they finished their end). Nebula and FTDNA announced a planned partnership for 2H20. Nebula has since confirmed their side is complete and access to all FTDNA databases / match lists / trees is planned "for a small fee". Still awaiting FTDNA to turn it on as of Jan 2021.



Capture of Nebula Genomics draft page of Deep Ancestry plan
FTDNA has mentioned that data from Nebula will be imported into their "general" match databases for yDNA and mtDNA. One post alluded to including the FamilyFinder autosomal database as well. But then they further clarified that importing and use in the BigY database would be for an extra fee. As STR data cannot be reliably extracted from the WGS short-read test (which they confirmed in this context), it is not clear what yDNA database will receive fee-free import. Guessing they will treat the import of yDNA SNPs like they do for NGG test results. List SNPs with the kit, call a terminal SNP haplogroup, but not allow BigY kit matches nor placement in the BigY tree. Then maybe add BigY matching and tree for the fee (expected under $200 and maybe under $100).

Shown is a capture of Nebula Genomics Deep Ancestry page plan. Shown to older 0.4x WGS test result customers as a teaser to order their deeper 30x test. Also on a direct link. Indicates the plan to offer entry to all three match databases / trees at FTDNA.

UPDATE (Dec'20): After 7 months of experience, the results have all been above clinical grade 30x MAPPED average read depth and delivered fairly consistently in the claimed 8 weeks once received back at their processing center. Only a recent delay in some orders due to Covid19 effecting the lab staff. But otherwise stellar. Never a struggle to receive results that meet 30x MAPPED clinical average read depth standards compared to the other vendor in this space. See a Facebook post on the 2020 experiences.

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