I ran across an interesting article about an interesting new concept as deals with DNA testing. I don’t know that many folks will jump on it, as it costs a Grand to be involved. However, genealogists might like to know that something different is going on… Following is a teaser from the article, which was posted today at the MIT Technology Review website.
Cryptocurrency in exchange for your genetic data! Sounds a bit like a scam, but it’s the premise behind a new company founded by a leading geneticist. Nebula Genomics says it will sequence your genome, give you insights about it, secure it using a blockchain, and allow you to do whatever you want with the data.
Nebula is the brainchild of Harvard geneticist George Church and Mirza Cifric, founder and CEO of Veritas Genetics, which offers a genome-sequencing service for $999.
When you pay to take a DNA test—through 23andMe, Helix, or Ancestry.com, for example—the company that does the testing owns your genetic data. Nebula wants to sequence people’s entire genomes and let them own it, allowing them to earn digital money by sharing it.
