Skip to main content
Premium Trial:

Request an Annual Quote

Genomic NFT

Nebula Genomics is putting up Harvard University's George Church's genome for sale as a nonfungible token (NFT), The Scientist reports. It adds that with the auction, Nebula is seeking to highlight issues of data ownership.

NFTs, as this explainer from the Verge notes, use a blockchain approach — similar to cryptocurrencies — to provide a certificate of authenticity or ownership for a typically digital object, often art. According to The Scientist, Church's nonfungible token will include his publicly available genomic data as well as a related piece of art.

Nebula's Kamal Obbad further tells it that NFTs could provide a way for people to license or share their genomic data. "So the idea of the NFT is, can we explore a new way of doing that through an NFT where monetization is included? Can we potentially provide an example for a future model that maybe Nebula will use for how users can choose to share or license their data to third parties?" he adds in a Q&A with The Scientist.

When the auction of Church's nonfungible token is to occur is to be announced Sunday, DNA Day, The Scientist adds.

The Scan

Suicidal Ideation-Linked Loci Identified Using Million Veteran Program Data

Researchers in PLOS Genetics identify risk variants within and across ancestry groups with a genome-wide association study involving veterans with or without a history of suicidal ideation.

Algorithm Teases Out Genetic Ancestry in Individuals at Biobank Scale

Researchers develop an algorithm known as Rye to tease apart ancestry fractions in admixed individuals at a biobank-scale, applying it to 488,221 UK Biobank participants in Nucleic Acids Research.

Multi-Ancestry Analysis Highlights Comparable Common Variants at Complex Trait-Linked Loci

Researchers in Nature Genetics examine common variants implicated in more than three dozen conditions, estimating genetic effect similarities across ancestry tracts in admixed individuals.

Sick Newborns Selected for WGS With Automated Pipeline

Researchers successfully prioritized infants with potential Mendelian conditions for whole-genome sequencing or rapid whole-genome sequencing, as they report in Genome Medicine.