Story Summary: Mendelian disorders, such as cystic fibrosis and sickle cell disease, are the result of one or more mutations in a single gene, typically a gene that makes a protein. All of the regions that code for proteins taken together are called the exome. Our results show that scientists could use exome sequencing to identify the genetic cause for thousands of disorders for which the gene hasnt been discovered. The research team was able to find that mutations in the gene, DHODH, cause Miller syndrome. The ability of exome sequencing to identify a causative gene in a few months, compared to earlier methods that took years, caused an audible gasp in the audience when we presented these findings to our peers, Bamshad said. The study published this week in Nature Genetics was a collaborative effort among scientists from many disciplines and institutions. Other authors include co-first author Kati J. Buckingham, from the UW Department of Pediatrics; Choli Lee, UW Department of Genome Sciences; Abigail W. Bigham, UW Department of Pediatrics; Holly K. Tabor, UW Department of Pediatrics and the Treuman Center for Pediatric Bioethics at Seattle Childrens; Karin M. Dent and Chad D. Huff from the University of Utah departments of pediatrics and human genetics, respectively; Paul T. Shannon of the Institute of Systems Biology in Seattle; Ethylin Wang Jabs of the Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Department of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University, and Deborah Nickerson from the UW Department of Genome Sciences. Other authors include co-first author Kati J. Buckingham, from the UW Department of Pediatrics; Choli Lee, UW Department of Genome Sciences; Abigail W. Bigham, UW Department of Pediatrics; Holly K. Tabor, UW Department of Pediatrics and the Treuman Center for Pediatric Bioethics at Seattle Childrens; Karin M. Dent and Chad D. Huff from the University of Utah departments of pediatrics and human genetics, respectively; Paul T. Shannon of the Institute of Systems Biology in Seattle; Ethylin Wang Jabs of the Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Department of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University, and Deborah Nickerson from the UW Department of Genome Sciences….Read the Full Story

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