Phenomenal advances in DNA sequencing technologies have enabled systematic identification of genetic variants in human individuals, and the recent FDA marketing authorization of the first next-generation genome sequencer signals the arrival of a new era of pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine. Nevertheless, DNA sequencing alone fails to provide complete information on the genetic makeup of an individual, as two homologous sets of chromosomes are present in the human genome. Delineation of both maternal and paternal copies, or haplotypes, is critical for determining an individual's genetic composition, and for understanding the structure and function of the human genome and its role in health and disease. Yet genome- scale haplotyping, or "phasing" of DNA variants, has long remained an elusive goal. Existing approaches are prohibitively expensive, technically challenging, require specialized instrumentation, or fall far short of reconstructing chromosome-spanning haplotypes. Arima Genomics has recently developed an innovative new approach for whole-genome haplotyping, combining proximity-ligation and DNA sequencing with a probabilistic algorithm for haplotype assembly. This new method, known as HaploSeq, achieves chromosome-spanning haplotypes with high completeness, resolution, and accuracy in mammalian genomes. As a cost-effective, streamlined technology, HaploSeq is poised to underpin a new standard in genome sequencing in biomedical applications and other markets from pharmacogenomics to agricultural biotechnology. The objectives of Arima Genomics' proposed R&D efforts involve improvement of HaploSeq's ability to phase rare variants in human cells by adapting the protocol to achieve more uniform genome coverage, extension of the HaploSeq algorithm's capabilities to provide genotypes concurrently with haplotypes from the same source sequencing data by developing a new "smart-mapping" computational module, and demonstration and benchmarking of HaploSeq's utility in ongoing next-generation genetic association studies in partnership with clinical research collaborators at UC San Diego. Successful completion of our research aims will contribute invaluable new knowledge to ongoing investigations of how human genetic variation influences the gene regulatory networks involved in cardiac biology and disease, and will substantially advance the capabilities of HaploSeq toward commercial viability in diverse research, biomedical, and clinical sequencing applications. HaploSeq promises to greatly enhance our understanding of human genetics in health and contribute to the realization of personalized medicine.
Public Health Relevance Statement: Public Health Relevance: Delineating both maternal and paternal genetic copies, or haplotypes, is critical for determining an individual's genetic composition and for understanding the structure and function of the human genome and its role in health and disease, yet genome-scale haplotyping, or "phasing" of DNA variants, has long remained an elusive goal. Arima Genomics has recently developed an innovative, cost-effective, and streamlined technology for whole-genome haplotyping in humans, known as HaploSeq. This new method will have broad impacts in diverse research, biomedical, and clinical sequencing applications, and promises to improve our understanding of human genetics in health and contribute to the realization of personalized medicine.
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