Evidence review and considerations for use of first line genome sequencing to diagnose rare genetic disorders
NPJ Genom Med. 2024 Feb 26;9(1):15. doi: 10.1038/s41525-024-00396-x. ABSTRACT Early use of genome sequencing (GS) in the diagnostic odyssey can reduce suffering and improve care, but questions remain about which patient populations are most amenable to GS as a first-line diagnostic test. To address this, the Medical Genome Initiative conducted a literature review to identify […]
Joint, multifaceted genomic analysis enables diagnosis of diverse, ultra-rare monogenic presentations
bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2024 Feb 16:2024.02.13.580158. doi: 10.1101/2024.02.13.580158. ABSTRACT Genomics for rare disease diagnosis has advanced at a rapid pace due to our ability to perform “N-of-1” analyses on individual patients. The increasing sizes of ultra-rare, “N-of-1” disease cohorts internationally newly enables cohort-wide analyses for new discoveries, but well-calibrated statistical genetics approaches for jointly analyzing these […]
ARF1 prevents aberrant type I interferon induction by regulating STING activation and recycling
Nat Commun. 2023 Nov 1;14(1):6770. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-42150-4. ABSTRACT Type I interferon (IFN) signalling is tightly controlled. Upon recognition of DNA by cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS), stimulator of interferon genes (STING) translocates along the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-Golgi axis to induce IFN signalling. Termination is achieved through autophagic degradation or recycling of STING by retrograde Golgi-to-ER transport. […]
Unique Capabilities of Genome Sequencing for Rare Disease Diagnosis
medRxiv. 2023 Aug 13:2023.08.08.23293829. doi: 10.1101/2023.08.08.23293829. Preprint. ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Causal variants underlying rare disorders may remain elusive even after expansive gene panels or exome sequencing (ES). Clinicians and researchers may then turn to genome sequencing (GS), though the added value of this technique and its optimal use remain poorly defined. We therefore investigated the advantages […]
Isolated Absent Aortic Valves: A Unique Fetal Case With Echocardiographic, Pathologic, and Genetic Correlation
JACC Case Rep. 2023 Feb 22;11:101790. doi: 10.1016/j.jaccas.2023.101790. eCollection 2023 Apr 5. ABSTRACT We present a 22-week fetus with isolated absent aortic valve and inverse circular shunt. The pregnancy was interrupted. Here, echocardiography and pathology images demonstrate this rare entity. Whole genome sequencing revealed a potentially disease-causing variant in the APC gene. Whole genome sequencing […]
The Genomic landscape of short tandem repeats across multiple ancestries
PLoS One. 2023 Jan 26;18(1):e0279430. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279430. eCollection 2023. ABSTRACT Short Tandem Repeats (STRs) have been found to play a role in a myriad of complex traits and genetic diseases. We examined the variability in the lengths of over 850,000 STR loci in 996 children with suspected genetic disorders and 1,178 parents across six separate […]
Are we prepared to deliver gene-targeted therapies for rare diseases?
Am J Med Genet C Semin Med Genet. 2023 Jan 24. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.c.32029. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT The cost and time needed to conduct whole-genome sequencing (WGS) have decreased significantly in the last 20 years. At the same time, the number of conditions with a known molecular basis has steadily increased, as has the […]
Insights into the perinatal phenotype of Kabuki syndrome in infants identified by genome-wide sequencing
Am J Med Genet A. 2023 Jan 18. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.a.63097. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Increasing use of unbiased genomic sequencing in critically ill infants can expand understanding of rare diseases such as Kabuki syndrome (KS). Infants diagnosed with KS through genome-wide sequencing performed during the initial hospitalization underwent retrospective review of medical records. Human […]
An automated 13.5 hour system for scalable diagnosis and acute management guidance for genetic diseases
Nat Commun. 2022 Jul 26;13(1):4057. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-31446-6. While many genetic diseases have effective treatments, they frequently progress rapidly to severe morbidity or mortality if those treatments are not implemented immediately. Since front-line physicians frequently lack familiarity with these diseases, timely molecular diagnosis may not improve outcomes. Herein we describe Genome-to-Treatment, an automated, virtual system for […]
2022: A pivotal year for diagnosis and treatment of rare genetic diseases
Cold Spring Harb Mol Case Stud. 2022 Feb 25:mcs.a006204. doi: 10.1101/mcs.a006204. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT The start of 2022 is an inflection point in the development of diagnostics and treatments for rare genetic diseases in prenatal, pediatric, and adult individuals; the theme of this special issue. Here I briefly review recent developments in the […]